On Gobbledygook and Mood of the Philippine Senate: An Exploratory Study on the Readability and Sentiment of Selected Philippine Senators' Microposts

This paper presents the findings of a readability assessment and sentiment analysis of selected six Philippine senators’ microposts over the popular Twitter microblog. Using the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), tweets of Senators Cayetano, Defensor-Santiago, Pangilinan, Marcos, Guingona, and Escudero were assessed. A sentiment analysis was also done to determine the polarity of the senators’ respective microposts. Results showed that on the average, the six senators are tweeting at an eight to ten SMOG level. This means that, at least a sixth grader will be able to understand the senators’ tweets. Moreover, their tweets are mostly neutral and their sentiments vary in unison at some period of time. This could mean that a senator’s tweet sentiment is affected by specific Philippine-based events.