LAKE BUENA VITA FLORIDA, SEPBER 8: LeBron Jam # 23 of Los Angeles Lakers reacts during A [+]
If there’s one thing we know about Twitter users, it’s that they have a lot of opinions.
In recent years their posts have become increasingly negative. They have all been granted Twitter accounts by the trolls.
The sports betting firm has recently been acquired BetOnlineDecided to count the number of negative tweets that were written about most-respected basketball players in the past month. These are the complete results.
What is the name of the person at the top?
It wasn’t a big surprise, especially if your favorite team has lost at the hands of this big league legend, whom some have called the best player in history.
LeBron James came in at the top with more than 100,000 negative tweets. It could be due to negative media in the past year, but I think it may have more to do his dominance and success over other teams.
James was far ahead of Kevin Durant who had only 35,000 negative tweets during the month. Kyrie and James Harden were close behind. The top contenders for “most hated players” according to Twitter also happen to be some of the The best playersIn the league. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (ranked number 12) was my surprise. Curry is often considered one of the best-liked players.
Sentiment analysis, as is often the case with sentiment analysis, is flawed. It attempts to gauge public opinion using science, but it is actually about emotions and opinions. We know there are negative tweets about these iconic players but we don’t really know why that is – eg, whether the Twitter users are mentioning actual games or dissing on some of their antics off the court.
We also don’t know if the negative tweets are coming from Los Angeles Lakers fans or those from rival teams. In the NFL, a player like Tom Brady has a legion of fans and is widely considered the best quarterback in history, but he is also “disappointed” by all of the fans who cheer for opposing teams.
Most of the “sentiment analysis” I’ve seen is usually a bit suspicious. Whether it comes to football stars, actors, or business moguls, if the person in question is widely known, it means there are a lot of “sentiments” period, both good and bad.
This ranking system has a problem in that negative tweets get more traction than positive ones. According to research, this is also true. Even though LeBron James fans might not think about it, tweets about him often get more comments and shares. The average Twitter user will eventually learn which tweets are most popular and start to do more of them. Combine this concept of “negative tweets get attention” with a popular player and it explains a lot.
However, more than 100,000 tweets a month are not good. It is easy to see why LeBron James has a bad reputation. He tends to have an over-inflated personality, and has been a powerful force in the world. It is not unusual for him to be proud of his court dominance.
I have to say, I don’t think LeBron James deserves this type of “recognition” since the study isn’t all that scientific, even if you might agree with the results. Do you have an opinion? Send us your opinion. drop a line on my Twitter feed.
