Understanding Twitter Emojis for Sentiment Analysis and Risk Perception on Paestum Archaeological Park, National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria and Matera Stones, Italy

In the realm of safety and security management, assessing the perceived risk among visitors to heritage and cultural sites is of paramount importance. Social media represents a powerful tool in this context, as it disseminates reviews that can significantly influence individual opinions. It also serves as a key medium for promotion, with
approximately 90% of tourists relying on online reviews.

In recent years, there has been a growing body of research on opinion mining and sentiment analysis, driven by the need to enhance public safety and security. Such studies enable security personnel to identify unforeseen incidents that may pose potential threats. In some cases, perceived risks may be exaggerated; therefore, it is essential to understand the underlying causes of such perceptions and implement appropriate mitigation measures.

In this paper, we investigate the estimation of risk perception at the Paestum Archaeological Park, the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, and the Matera Stones. We demonstrate how this estimation can capture visitors’ emotional responses through the application of sentiment analysis on Twitter data, including the analysis of emojis.