Reddit Sentiment Analyzer A powerful Apify Actor that scrapes Reddit posts and comments, then performs comprehensive sentiment analysis to understand community opinions and trends. ## What Does This Actor Do? This actor helps you: - Extract Reddit Data: Scrape posts and comments from any public subreddit - Analyze Sentiment: Automatically classify content as Positive, Negative, or Neutral - Discover Trends: Identify top keywords, controversial discussions, and sentiment patterns - Track Topics: Monitor specific keywords or search queries across Reddit - Generate Insights: Get comprehensive statistics and extreme examples Perfect for market research, brand monitoring, trend analysis, and understanding community sentiment. ## Features - ✅ Scrape multiple subreddits simultaneously - ✅ Search Reddit with custom queries - ✅ Filter by keywords, time ranges, and post scores - ✅ Analyze both posts and comments - ✅ Extract top keywords using TF-IDF - ✅ Identify most positive/negative discussions - ✅ Detect controversial posts - ✅ Track sentiment trends over time - ✅ Per-subreddit sentiment breakdown ## Prerequisites You'll need Reddit API credentials (free): 1. Go to https://www.reddit.com/prefs/apps 2. Click "Create App" or "Create Another App" 3. Select "script" as the app type 4. Fill in: - Name: Your app name (e.g., "Sentiment Analyzer") - Redirect URI: http://localhost:8080 5. Click "Create app" 6. Copy your Client ID (below app name) and Client Secret ## Input Configuration ### Required Parameters | Parameter | Type | Description | |-----------|------|-------------| | redditClientId | String | Your Reddit API Client ID | | redditClientSecret | String | Your Reddit API Client Secret (kept secure) | | subreddits | Array | List of subreddit names, e.g., ["technology", "python"] | ### Optional Parameters | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | |-----------|------|---------|-------------| | searchQuery | String | - | Search Reddit for specific topics (alternative to subreddits) | | keywords | Array | - | Filter posts containing these keywords | | timeFilter | Select | "week" | Time period: hour, day, week, month, year, all | | sortBy | Select | "hot" | Sort method: hot, new, top, rising, controversial | | maxPosts | Number | 100 | Maximum posts per subreddit (1-1000) | | includeComments | Boolean | true | Analyze comments in addition to posts | | maxCommentsPerPost | Number | 50 | Maximum comments per post (0-500) | | minScore | Number | 0 | Minimum post score (upvotes) to include | | includePostText | Boolean | true | Include full post content in results | | generateSummary | Boolean | true | Generate sentiment summary and trends | ## Usage Examples ### Example 1: Analyze Technology News Sentiment json { "redditClientId": "your_client_id", "redditClientSecret": "your_client_secret", "subreddits": ["technology", "tech"], "timeFilter": "week", "sortBy": "top", "maxPosts": 100, "minScore": 100 } ### Example 2: Track AI/ML Discussions json { "redditClientId": "your_client_id", "redditClientSecret": "your_client_secret", "searchQuery": "artificial intelligence", "keywords": ["AI", "GPT", "machine learning"], "timeFilter": "month", "maxPosts": 200 } ### Example 3: Monitor Brand Mentions json { "redditClientId": "your_client_id", "redditClientSecret": "your_client_secret", "subreddits": ["technology", "gadgets", "reviews"], "keywords": ["YourBrand"], "includeComments": true, "maxCommentsPerPost": 100, "generateSummary": true } ### Example 4: Quick Post Analysis (No Comments) json { "redditClientId": "your_client_id", "redditClientSecret": "your_client_secret", "subreddits": ["worldnews"], "timeFilter": "day", "maxPosts": 50, "includeComments": false } ## Output Data ### Individual Posts Each post in the dataset includes: - Post title, content, and metadata (author, subreddit, score, timestamps) - Sentiment analysis (label, compound score, positive/negative/neutral percentages) - URL and permalink - Engagement metrics (upvotes, comments count) - All comments with individual sentiment scores (if enabled) ### Sentiment Summary The actor generates a comprehensive summary including: - Overview: Total posts/comments analyzed - Sentiment Distribution: Percentage breakdown by sentiment type - Average Scores: Overall and per-category sentiment scores - Top Keywords: Most relevant terms extracted via TF-IDF - Extreme Examples: Most positive and negative posts - Controversial Posts: Discussions with mixed sentiment - Subreddit Breakdown: Per-subreddit statistics - Temporal Trends: Daily sentiment patterns ## Understanding Sentiment Scores - Compound Score: Overall sentiment from -1 (very negative) to +1 (very positive) - Label: Classification as Positive, Negative, or Neutral - Component Scores: Individual positive, neutral, and negative percentages Interpretation: - 0.5 to 1.0: Very Positive - 0.1 to 0.5: Positive - -0.1 to 0.1: Neutral - -0.5 to -0.1: Negative - -1.0 to -0.5: Very Negative ## Use Cases ### Market Research - Analyze customer sentiment about products or services - Identify emerging trends in your industry - Track competitor mentions and reputation ### Brand Monitoring - Monitor brand mentions across relevant subreddits - Identify PR issues early through sentiment tracking - Understand customer pain points and preferences ### Content Strategy - Discover trending topics in your niche - Understand what content resonates with communities - Identify controversial subjects to address or avoid ### Academic Research - Study online community behavior and sentiment - Analyze public opinion on social issues - Track sentiment evolution over time ### Product Development - Gather feature requests and user feedback - Identify common complaints or praise - Understand user priorities through keyword analysis ## Performance & Limits - Reddit API Rate Limit: 60 requests/minute (automatically handled) - Max Posts per Request: 1000 (Reddit API limitation) - Processing Time: Varies based on post count and comment depth - ~1-2 minutes for 100 posts without comments - ~5-10 minutes for 100 posts with 50 comments each - Actor Privacy: This actor is private and only accessible to your account ## Data Privacy - Only scrapes publicly available Reddit content - No access to private subreddits or messages - Usernames are public Reddit handles (not PII) - All data stored in your private Apify datasets - API credentials are encrypted and never exposed ## Compliance This actor: - ✅ Uses official Reddit API (PRAW) - ✅ Respects Reddit's rate limits - ✅ Complies with Reddit API Terms of Service - ✅ Only accesses public data - ✅ Does not bypass any restrictions You are responsible for: - Using your own Reddit API credentials - Complying with Reddit's terms of service - Respecting data privacy laws in your jurisdiction ## Troubleshooting No results returned? - Check your Reddit API credentials are correct - Verify the subreddit names are spelled correctly (without "r/" prefix) - Try increasing maxPosts or removing keyword filters - Ensure posts exist in your specified time filter API authentication errors? - Verify Client ID and Client Secret are correct - Make sure you created a "script" type app on Reddit - Check that your Reddit account is in good standing Slow performance? - Reduce maxPosts or maxCommentsPerPost - Set includeComments to false for faster scraping - Use narrower time filters Empty sentiment scores? - Posts/comments with no text return neutral sentiment - Deleted/removed content is filtered out ## Support For issues or questions: - Review Reddit API documentation - Contact your Apify account administrator ## License Last Updated: 2025-11-10