Sentiment Extraction from Image-Based Memes Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning

The widespread use of image-based memes on socioeconomic or political issues has witnessed a booming effect unparallel to any form of media in the recent years. The ability to go viral on social media in seconds and the popularity of memes on online platforms give a wide scope and pathway for research as it will help in understanding the usage patterns of the public and in turn be used for analyzing their sentiment toward a specific topic/event. In this paper, initially gap analysis on the features used for sentiment extraction on memes is presented. Exploring the correlation of image based and textual features, this paper gives a novel approach (correlating the facial features along with the text in the meme itself) for the extraction of sentiment from image-based memes. This paper also addresses the challenges faced in this relatively new area of sentiment extraction on memes. Finally, this paper concludes with insightful results.