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Social media could be considered a real-time alternative to polling and a good indicator of voter preferences in future, according to analysis by Meltwater, the media intelligence and data analytics firm.
Meltwater’s social and analytical listening tools show social media sentiment over the campaign period was leaning favourably towards the Labor Party.
The turning point came from May 1, when Anthony Albanese overtook Scott Morrison and the Liberal Party on social media mentions for the first time with the launch of the Labor campaign.
Meltwater’s analysis showed posts about the Liberal Party were largely negative with 50% negative sentiment and just a 9% positive sentiment, compared to Labor’s 39% negative sentiment and 19% positive sentiment on social media.
Social media posts spiked around 10pm on Saturday at the calling of the election in favour of Anthony Albanese.
Social media coverage for Mr Albanese was largely positive (44% positive vs 23 % negative), while coverage for Mr Morrison was largely negative (50% negative vs 13% positive).
The data is the result of a Meltwater analysis of over half a million social posts (across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, Youtube and Reddit) over the weekend.
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