The Election in Emotions

This week, Donald Trump was elected the next President of the United States. His election has resulted in an explosion of emotions across the country, from the elation of his supporters to the fury expressed by liberal protesters to the devastation felt by many minorities and members of the LGBTQ community. Yet for all the feelings Trump’s ascendance has raised among Americans across the political spectrum, one clearly stands out above the rest: Fear.

At Empath, we created a safe space for emotional expression and connection. Every post on Empath is anonymous, letting users communicate how they are feeling without fear of retribution. And every post is tagged with one of six primary emotions ranging from positive to negative (top to bottom) and low to high energy (left to right), each with three intensity levels:

Every post on Empath is tagged with one of six primary emotions.

Not unexpectedly, this election has caused a spike in the number of posts made on our network. More importantly though, it has led to a clear shift in the tone and intensity of these posts:

All posts made on Empath during the month of October.

Election-related posts made on Empath during the month of November.

The usual share of Empath posts expressing fear is 9%, but election-related posts have seen that jump to nearly 50%.

A few other observations:

• Posts expressing positive emotions plummeted from 70% to 17%
• Posts expressing sadness or anger rose from 21% to 35%
• High-intensity posts of any kind essentially doubled from 22% to 43%, with “Terrified” posts exploding from 1% to 26%

Even more poignant is the content of these posts, from immigrants fearing deportation to LGBTQ people afraid for their right to marry:

Real feelings posted on Empath by real people. Turns out the person worried about his immigration status is a close friend.

Here’s where it hits home. Empath uses phone contacts to tell you when a post is coming from someone you know, and if you heart that post, the original poster can choose to reveal her identity. That post about immigration status? Turns out that came from a close friend who is now worried he will have to leave the country after attending school here and recently getting engaged.

Whether you voted for Trump or not, seeing how his election is impacting other Americans, particularly the people you know and love, is powerful.
And for a nation feeling less united than it has in a long time, it may be an important step toward rediscovering our common humanity.

So how are you feeling about the election? To express your feelings and find out what others are saying, download Empath on iPhone.