A Sentiment Analysis Approach for Identifying Users’ Security and Privacy Perception of Metaverse In Twitter

Metaverse technology has gained the attention of researchers and professionals due to its numerous potential applications. It serves as a virtual world that connects people socially and offers them an immersive experience. However, we lack knowledge about how users perceive this technology, particularly regarding their optimism or pessimism towards it. Of specific concern is users’ feelings about their security and privacy in the virtual world. To address this gap, we analyzed over 300,000 tweets about Metaverse, including more than 1,000 tweets that mentioned security and privacy keywords. The study aimed to understand how people perceive Metaverse security and privacy by applying sentiment analysis to the collected tweets. The results indicate that approximately 59% of users had a positive view of their security in the Metaverse, while around 66% had a positive view of their privacy. However, the study revealed that people were uncertain about these two factors and raised legal and ethical concerns about the technology. The study’s findings highlight research and practical implications for the future development of the Metaverse.