Aliff Ahmad
Project Manager
on
Case Studies / Indonesian Voices Amid COVID-19: A Sentiment Analysis
Indonesian Voices Amid COVID-19: A Sentiment Analysis
Issue
During times of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding public reactions to government decisions is critical. Social media has become a powerful tool for people to voice their opinions, and analyzing this data can reveal how people truly feel about the actions being taken. In this case, we sought to understand the Indonesian public's response to key decisions during the pandemic—decisions that impacted their daily lives in profound ways.
Where
Indonesia (nationwide)
Our Methodology/Approach:
To capture the public’s response, we examined two significant events in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic: the implementation of large-scale social restrictions and the reopening of schools. We gathered data from X and Facebook, where the public was actively discussing these issues. Using a supervised machine learning approach, we analyzed the data to detect the emotions and sentiments behind the posts—whether people were feeling hopeful, frustrated, or uncertain. Our goal was to uncover the public’s true feelings and understand how they were processing the government’s actions.
Outcome:
The results gave us a clear picture of the emotional landscape during these uncertain times. We were able to detect different sentiments—ranging from concern and frustration to optimism and support—that emerged during both the restrictions and the school reopening. This deeper understanding of the public’s emotional response helped shed light on how information was being communicated and what the public needed most during such a challenging period. It was an important step toward improving public information strategies in times of crisis.
