Abstract
This paper presents the findings of the research aimed at investigating the influence of visual content, posted on social media in shaping users' sentiments towards specific sociopolitical events. The study analyzed various sociopolitical topics by examining posts containing relevant hashtags and keywords, along with their associated images and comments. Using advanced machine learning and deep learning methods for sentiment analysis, textual data were classified to determine the expressed sentiments. Additionally, the correlation between posted visual content and user sentiments has been studied. A particular emphasis was placed on understanding how these visuals impact users' attitudes toward the events. The research resulted in a comprehensive dataset comprising labeled images and their comments, offering valuable insights into the dynamics of public opinion formation through social media. This study investigates the influence of social media images on user sentiment toward sociopolitical events using deep learning-based sentiment analysis. By analyzing posts from movements such as Black Lives Matter, Women's March, Climate Change Protests, and Anti-war Demonstrations, we identified a strong correlation between visual content and public sentiment. Our results reveal that Anti-war Demonstrations exhibit the highest correlation (PLCC: 0.709, SROCC: 0.723), while Climate Change Protests display the lowest alignment (PLCC: 0.531, SROCC: 0.611). Overall, the study finds a consistent positive correlation (PLCC range: 0.615-0.709, SROCC: 0.611-0.723) across movements, indicating the significant role of visual content in shaping the public opinion.