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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Twitter as a mood barometer. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Researchers are turning to the massive amount of data generated by social media posts to understand how our thoughts and moods shift throughout the day. University of Bristol computer scientist Nello Cristianini and his colleagues analyzed word usage patterns in the text of 800 million tweets over a four year period.
NELLO CRISTIANINI (University of Bristol):
First of all we found that we think very differently in the morning than in the night.
HIRSHON:
The researchers report in the journal PLOS ONE that early morning tweets tend to be more analytical, focusing on success, power, and the future, while late night tweets focus more on the past and negative emotions. It’s not known wherther this is due to fundamental differences between early risers and night owls, but the study could offer insights into the relationship between our body clock and our emotional states. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.
Story by Susanne Bard