Socialbeat collects real-time data from popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other online platforms, such as e-newspapers and news websites.

Socialbeat uses AI and machine learning to analyze data from social media in a smart and effective way, according to different groups of themes, fields and management areas. 

It does many things, from discovering trends, recognizing public views, whether positive, neutral, or negative, and providing in-depth analyses of specific issues, thus helping users better understand content they are interested in. It is also a channel to capture feedback from the city’s citizens.

Socialbeat allows users to create flexible and diverse reports based on data collected in from quick reports, periodic reports and in-depth analyses, from general reviews to detailed reports. Users can customize the software to satisfy their requirements and get data useful for their tasks.

Nguyen Thanh Hoa from the HCM City Department of Information and Communications’ Electronic Information Division said the software is used to help state management agencies better understand people’s and businesses’ opinions, and learn about their needs and contributions to policymaking and law enforcement.

The information to be collected from the internet about the city will serve as an important data source. It is the voice and wishes of local residents. 

Asked why local authorities need to listen to social media, Lam Dinh Thang, director of the HCM City Department of Information and Communications, said the municipal authorities always want to know people’s and businesses’ opinions about issues to make reasonable policies for city development.

There are about 22 million social network accounts in HCM City. HCM City needs to have a comprehensive tool to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of policies.

The software can capture information from 70 million social network accounts and over 100,000 news websites. 

Before the Tet holiday, the software found that 65 percent of comments were positive, 25 percent neutral and 10 percent negative.

Replying to the question about the security and ethical use of the software, Thang said the city will deploy technical solutions and issue regulations on using it.

Le My