Using sentiment analysis on the tweets of the digital media platform Twitter to determine the extent of pilgrims’ satisfaction during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

This study aimed to discover the extent of pilgrims’ satisfaction with the services provided to them during the Hajj of the year 2020 AD through the participation of pilgrims and witnesses of the Hajj season on the platform of Twitter. Sentiment analysis was conducted for the period of July 15, 2020 AD to August 21, 2020 AD. Data was extracted using sentiment analysis for the tags of #Hajj, #Jamarat, #Kaaba, #Tawaf, #Mecca, #Arafa, #Muzdalifah, #pilgrims, #Mina. 137784 tweets were written using these tags, of which 36627 tweets were Arabic and analyzed in this study. Sentiment analysis was performed in two stages. The first stage was the analysis of tweets based on the polarity of feelings, and the second stage was a detailed analysis of the type of positive or negative feelings of the tweets. The study resulted in a number of findings, the most important of which is that the positive feelings about the 2020 pilgrimage outperformed the negative feelings by a considerable margin, which is a strong indicator of the pilgrims’ satisfaction with the services provided during the Hajj season. Additionally, as the 2020 Hajj took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, the satisfaction of pilgrims and Muslims in general was not only emotionally motivated; there was also a cognitive awareness of the exceptional circumstances of Hajj due to the pandemic and a great understanding of the wise position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in restricting Hajj to pilgrims inside. This was in compliance with the precautionary health measures that guarantee the safety of pilgrims during their performance of Hajj rituals. The current study clearly indicates that negative feelings may not result from a negative impression and do not result in negative behavior, but that these feelings may be instantaneous and result from certain exceptional circumstances in which the cognitive perception of the client (the pilgrim) agrees on the negative feeling. Hence, it is necessiry to identify the detailed feelings of the texts. In addition, the current study found that it is necessary to integrate content analysis with sentiment analysis to reach a comprehensive understanding of the significance of feelings. It may result in a completely different feeling that is not categorized within the Plutchik’s Wheel.