• ISSN: 2301-3567 (Print), 2972-3981 (Online)
    • Abbreviated Title: J. Econ. Bus. Manag.
    • Frequency: Quarterly
    • DOI: 10.18178/JOEBM
    • Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Eunjin Hwang
    • Executive Editor: Ms. Fiona Chu
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HOME > Archive > 2024 > Volume 12 Number 3 (2024) >
JOEBM 2024 Vol.12(3): 244-251
DOI: 10.18178/joebm.2024.12.3.804

Sentiment Variability in Online Communities: A Comparative Analysis of Business-Related Subreddits Using Natural Language Processing

Anna D. Kyosova
Graduate School of Technology Management, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan
Email: a.kyosova@gmail.com (A.D.K.)

Manuscript received October 20, 2023; revised November 28, 2023; accepted February 19, 2024; published July 15, 2024.

Abstract—This research aims to shed light on how community sentiment varies across nine distinct subreddits focused on entrepreneurship and business. To ensure highly reliable data, we used a multi-faceted approach combining automated data extraction with manual curation techniques. Advanced text pre-processing methods were utilized along with the syuzhet package in R for precise sentiment analysis. Upon conducting pairwise hypothesis testing, it was found that there are statistically relevant variations in mood between various subreddit pairs while others demonstrated no notable disparities at all levels analyzed. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of how views on business ideas differ across online communities and offer valuable guidance for potential entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers. Additionally, our approach can easily be adapted for other social media platforms but limitations like external factors must be considered when interpreting the results obtained solely from Reddit data. To expand upon this research further exploration into longitudinal analysis is suggested along with delving into the impact that external events have on community perception towards certain subjects/subreddit topic areas may also warrant investigation. Our research bears weight beyond the sphere of entrepreneurs, reaching a wider audience that includes investors, educators, and policymakers with an interest in assessing community perceptions regarding entrepreneurial patterns. Our findings are pivotal to advancing conversations surrounding how big data and machine learning can facilitate grasping and interpreting entrepreneurial sentiment within our digital age.

Keywords—business ideas and trends, pairwise hypothesis testing, Reddit, sentiment analysis

Cite: Anna D. Kyosova, "Sentiment Variability in Online Communities: A Comparative Analysis of Business-Related Subreddits Using Natural Language Processing," Journal of Economics, Business and Management, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 244-251, 2024.

Copyright © 2024 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

 

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