Human vs. Machine Jun 1
In a perfect world, everything can be accomplished by the touch of a button. Alas, this world is far too complicated to rely on buttons—it requires the human touch in order to keep things running smoothly.
This is the case with social media analysis. While computerized monitoring tools can provide solid quantitative data, they are often unable to pick up on the humanistic side of social media responses. For example, a data source may read, “I’m so glad I spent 10 bucks on this awesome movie….right…” as a positive post. However, most humans would classify this as a sarcastic comment. Monitoring software can easily misread sentiment in sarcasm, ambiguity, and may likely incorrectly categorize simple positive or negative posts.
Sentiment is just one aspect of social media analysis that can skew product perception when it is solely computerized. As we’ve reiterated time and time again, human review is necessary in order to guarantee accuracy of information and to fully utilize the capabilities of whatever software you choose to employ. These online tools are essential for securing data quickly and efficiently, but in order to get the most out of your monitoring program, you’ll also need a good pair of eyes.
