How Sarcasm Throws Off Brands' Social Data

By Mary C. Long

It's likely that emoticons were invented largely as an assist to those who don't speak "sarcasm." 

Even in person sarcasm can be misconstrued, but via written channels it's almost impossible to recognize at times. 

For brands using big data analytics platforms to assess whether people love or hate their products/services the assumption that a computer can more readily infer context is a dangerous one. 

Because computers don't speak "sarcasm." Which means your interpretation of your social data could be all wrong.  

Brands on their game are well aware that they need to be monitoring as many channels as possible so they know how many people are talking about their brands, how often, and what they’re saying. The really forward-thinking brands understand that it’s important to gauge the intensity of those interactions as well – to know not just that people love their brand, but how much they love it.

But it’s not quite as simple as it sounds. Passion for your brand is far from a “set it and forget it” metric. Because context can take the consumer sentiment you thought you were measuring and swing it in the opposite direction, where love becomes hate. Which means you need to know your demographic well to really interpret the data you’re collecting.

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