SENTIMENT ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC PERCEPTION TOWARDS ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S VICTORY IN THE NEW YORK MAYOR’S ELECTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62533/0xe2qr56Keywords:
Zohran Mamdani, Sentiment Analysis, Orange Software, New York, YouTube, Public Perception.Abstract
This study examines public reactions towards Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York Mayor’s election. For this purpose, the researchers have created a dataset of YouTube users’ comments on Mamdani’s speech. The sentiment analysis tool Orange has been used to analyze public reactions towards his victory speech. After a thorough analysis of the data, the researchers have found that the public holds strong positive views of Mamdani’s victory, though there is some negativity towards Mamdani’s Muslim identity. Sentiment scores were defined with the highest positive sentiment set to 1 and the negative sentiment to 0.893. Key themes that emerged from the public perception of Mamdani’s victory are hope for change and emotional uplift, viewers’ celebration, blessings, global support for Mamdani, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant hate directed at Mamdani, and gender inclusivity. This research calls for further exploration of these findings to compare public reactions to previous mayors and to those in other U.S. cities whose identities are neither Muslim nor immigrant.
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