ANALYSING TWITTER TRENDS SURROUNDING OUTBREAK

Social technologist Yang Yinping has a passion for building and applying technology to advance human communications. Most recently, Dr Yang Yinping, the principal investigator and group manager at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR) Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) started examining people's sentiments during the COVID-19 pandemic, using an algorithm system which examines social media posts on Twitter. They are analysed according to four emotions - fear, anger, sadness and joy, along with the course of events contextualising those feelings.

Dr Yang said these feelings should be monitored closely, as they offer insights into concerns faced by the community. In the coming days, she anticipates stronger sentiments of joy, in response to positive news of a vaccine and other treatment developments.

Dr Yang says: "People's sentiments about the Covid-19 pandemic should be monitored closely, as they offer insights into concerns faced by the community."

Thank you The Straits Time for publishing this article.