UofSC Insights Index: People are talking about Biden, but not positively

Posted October 7, 2019
Photo from Joe Biden's Twitter after his August 2019 visit to Greenville, SC.

Joe Biden has dominated South Carolina social media conversations about the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but his candidacy is not attracting as much positive sentiment as other leading candidates, according to a new analysis by the University of South Carolina Social Media Insights Lab.

Since March, the lab has tracked social media conversations in the state about the leading Democratic candidates, analyzing 330,000 posts. The lab’s Insights Index shows 98,000 posts about Biden, more than 50 percent greater than Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, the second and third most-mentioned candidates.

However, comments about Biden do not reflect as much positive sentiment as comments about the others as measured by the lab’s powerful Crimson Hexagon software. The former vice president ranks lowest on the Insights Index among the five leading candidates and has been trending downward since July.

The candidate with the highest sentiment score, Pete Buttigieg, also has the smallest share of voice. Bernie Sanders and the two leading female candidates, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, are in the middle in both share of voice and sentiment. Positive mentions for all three trended upward in September.

The accompanying graphics provide more detailed information about the Insights Index and its findings. Insights Lab manager Kaitlyn Park will be available in the lab, which is located in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Tuesday from noon until 2 p.m. for interviews and questions.

Looking at month to month, we see moments when other candidates have taken some of the spotlight on social in SC. In July and August, Joe Biden lost some of his lead in mentions on social. However, the Whistleblower complaint launched Biden back to the lead in share of voice.
Looking at positive sentiment on social media in South Carolina we see other important insights. Joe Biden may dominate in share of voice, but he trails behind in positive sentiment (yellow line) on social. His positive sentiment took a further dip in September.
Joe Biden has had the highest name recognition since putting his hat in the ring to be the Democratic nominee, and that is still the case in South Carolina. All together from March until Sept., Joe Biden has the highest share of voice on social in SC.
The UofSC Insights Index is not a poll, but we like to consider our research a "barometer" for identifying buzz and positive sentiment toward political candidates in South Carolina. Here are some of the popular words found from March to September.

About the Social Media Insights Lab

The Insights Lab software uses artificial intelligence to interpret data. View a full list of reports at sc.edu/uofscinsights and follow the lab on Twitter at @UofSCInsights.

For media inquiries, contact Rebekah Friedman at rebekahb@mailbox.sc.edu or 803-576-7270.

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UofSC Insights Index: People are talking about Biden, but not positively

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