Twitter Mood Up = Stocks Up

If you could predict the stock market you would have the world by the tail.  While people of all backgrounds, ages and intellect levels have tried to gain the skills to accurately predict the stock market, most have failed and proven inaccurate at best.  Who would have thought that a fun social internet communication tool like Twitter could help you make money in the stock market.  Based on a study by Johan Bollen, Huina Mao, Xiao-Jun Zeng, now may be the time to decide that there is room in your life for the likes of Twitter and perhaps time spent on social networking sites is not just a big waste.

The idea to prove that mood and stock value were connected was initiated by using two mood tracking tools, specifically OpinionFinder which measures positive vs. negative mood and Google-Profile of Mood States (GPOMS).  These tools were used to track the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) during times of monumental events like Thanksgiving and presidential elections they could see there was a definite correlation. 

If you look at the DJIA chart below you’ll see there is likely some, if not a significant amount of validity .

Notice how the stock jumped on October 13.  On the evening of October 12, the world watched and cheered, some even cried tears of joy as the first of 33 Chilean miners were rescued after 68 days of being trapped hundreds of feet below earth’s surface.  The positive and grateful mood could be felt on a multitude of social networks including Twitter. 

Perhaps now is the time to take notice of the value that social networks and social marketing can have on your business.  With an accuracy rate of up to 90%, this puts Twitter and other social marketing services on the map, as if they weren’t already!