System and method for collection analysis of electronic discussion methods

A system for processing message traffic in a plurality of electronic discussion forums, comprising:

• a computer-implemented message collector for collecting messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;
• a computer-implemented message categorizer for processing the messages based on a series of topics;
• a computer-implemented data analyzer for tracking message content posted by a plurality of pseudonyms and the roles of individual participants using the pseudonyms posting in the plurality of electronic discussion forums over time based on the processing of the messages;
• a storage device containing a database storing configuration information for the plurality of electronic discussion forums;
• and
• a computer-implemented report generator for generating a report based upon the analysis of the data analyzer;
• wherein the computer-implemented message collector communicates with the database, thereby enabling the computer-implemented message collector to collect messages corresponding to a plurality of message formats or communications protocols.

A system for processing message traffic in a plurality of electronic discussion forums, comprising:

• a computer-implemented message collector for collecting messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;
• a computer-implemented message processor for processing the messages according to a series of topics, wherein the message processor processes a message to compute a numerical relevance score of the message to at least one topic from the series of topics on a numerical scale;
• a computer-implemented data analyzer for tracking message content posted by a plurality of pseudonyms posting in the plurality of electronic discussion forums over time based on the processing of the messages;
• a storage device for storing the messages;
• and
• a computer-implemented report generator for generating a market report on the at least one topic based upon the analysis of the data analyzer;
• wherein the message processor processes the messages to compute an opinion rating associated with the at least one topic for the message based on sentence-level analysis using a plurality of pre-determined linguistic patterns and associative rules;
• wherein the computed opinion rating indicates at least one of a positive, negative and neutral opinion associated with the at least one topic;
• whereby the numerical relevance score and opinion rating are reflected, at least in part, in the market report on the at least one topic.

A method for processing message traffic in a plurality of electronic discussion forums, comprising the steps of:

• collecting messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;
• processing the messages based on a series of topics;
• tracking message content posted by a plurality of pseudonyms and the roles of individual participants using the pseudonyms posting in the plurality of electronic discussion forums over time based on the processing of the messages;
• storing configuration information for the plurality of electronic discussion forums in a database, and wherein the step of collecting messages comprises collecting messages corresponding to a plurality of message formats or communications protocols;
• assigning opinion ratings in the message content posted by the plurality of pseudonyms;
• and
• generating a market report from, at least in part, the message content and the opinion ratings.

A method for processing message traffic in a plurality of electronic discussion forums, comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

• collecting messages from the plurality of electronic discussion forums;
• processing the messages according to a series of topics and computing a numerical relevance score of the messages to at least one topic from the series of topics on a numerical scale;
• and
• tracking message content posted by a plurality of pseudonyms posting in the plurality of electronic discussion forums over time based on the processing of the messages;
• wherein
• the processing step further comprises the computer-implemented step of computing an opinion rating for the message based on sentence-level analysis using a plurality of pre-determined linguistic patterns and associative rules according to the at least one topic;
• wherein the computed opinion rating indicates at least one of a positive, negative and neutral opinion associated with the at least one topic;
• the method further comprising the step of generating a market report on the at least one topic from, at least in part, the numerical relevance score and opinion rating from the processing step.