Honors Theses

College

College of Arts and Sciences

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Communication

Department

Department of Communication

Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Communication

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

Political public relations has changed in recent years with new developments in social media, leading to a greater use of digital communication. This thesis focuses on the wording in Twitter posts. This purpose of this case study is to find the potential effect of tweet sentiment on audience engagement when looking specifically at messages from Marjorie Taylor Greene’s professional Twitter account. A sentiment analysis of a sixth-month time span of tweets was created using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) system. The variables assigned for tone were averaged for each day and charted on a graph, showing when they trend more negative or positive. These variables were also compared to the average number of retweets, likes, and replies received. The results revealed a negative correlation between positive tone and the number of likes and replies. The implications of these findings are further discussed in this paper.

Publication Date

5-1-2022

First Advisor

Seitz, Holli

Second Advisor

Loehwing, Melanie

Third Advisor

Elder, Anastasia

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