Annenberg Teaming Up to Study Social Media Response to Oscars
The USC Annenberg Innovation Lab is teaming up with the Los Angeles Times and IBM to study social media attitude towards the 84th Academy Awards.
The "senti-meter" project is aimed at gathering Twitter reaction on the Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture award categories. The goal is to gain a better understanding of the "movie goers' opinion."
"This project is about identifying 'The People's Oscar,' which means moving beyond pundits' opinion who the winners may be, to understanding who real moviegoers want to see receive the highest accolades of the industry," said Professor Jonathan Taplin, Director of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab. "We want to illustrate how the new technologies can capture valuable information and opinions derived from the voices of the influential movie fans."
This project is part of a continued joint effort between IBM and the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab to research how social media and technology can be used by journalists, movie studios and other organizations to further understand public opinion.
The LA Times will continue to update information about the project as people continue to Tweet about the Academy Awards over the next few weeks.
"The ability to apply quantified measurement to social media chatter surrounding the top films and performances of the season, and to do so over a period of time, adds a valuable new dimension to The Times awards coverage," said Sallie Hofmeister, The Times Assistant Managing Editor of Arts and Entertainment. "We're very interested in developing and embracing new technologies to inform our reporting and working with IBM and USC has made this early stage social sentiment tool possible."
The Academy Awards will air on February 26 on ABC.
