Sitegeist: Unveiling Problems in Order to Spark Solutions

Prior to participating in CruzHacks 2024, a group of students at UCSC began looking for what issues were problematic in their community. They identified problems with buses, schools, and many other areas. Instead of seeing these as isolated problems, the group realized that it was the sheer number of problems that needed attention. In response, they developed a web-based platform called Sitegeist.

Sitegeist is a technical solution designed to provide a comprehensive view of the problems within a community. The platform utilizes machine learning to predict the sentiment behind every sentence in a subreddit. By analyzing trending topics and issues, Sitegeist generates keywords, associated sentiments, and example posts that illustrate how people are dealing with these topics.

To further enhance the user experience, Sitegeist's front end is built on React, ensuring a seamless and intuitive interface. On the backend, FastAPI handles critical tasks such as data extraction, sentiment analysis, and Natural Language Processing (NLP). This robust infrastructure allows Sitegeist to efficiently process large amounts of information.

At the core of Sitegeist's analytical capabilities lies its NLP pipeline. This pipeline leverages NLTK, sci-kit-learn, and transformers to perform intricate tasks such as sentiment analysis and word frequency analysis. Additionally, Sitegeist collaborates with ChatGPT to propose innovative solutions for the identified issues. This dynamic partnership adds a layer of creativity and problem-solving to the platform, ensuring that users receive unique and actionable insights.

With Sitegeist, users can gain a deeper understanding of the problems in their community and explore potential solutions to address these issues effectively.
To learn more, visit: https://github.com/masaishi/web_CruzHacks2024