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A study from the University of Bristol’s Intelligent Systems Laboratory indicates that posts from Twitter users can serve as an accurate indicator of overall public opinion. Researchers Thomas Lansdall-Welfare, Vasileios Lampos and Nello Cristianin monitored keywords in random tweets from July of 2009 to January of 2012, tracking 140-character messages from nearly 10 million users to monitor public moods in the UK. The resulting study, “Effects of the recession on public mood in the UK,” shows correlations between tweets and public opinion. The researchers, who presented their findings at the International Workshop on Social Media Applications in News and Entertainment, noted increases in sadness, anger and fear in summer of 2011 during the London riots. Negative tweets also rose sharply in October of 2010 when the UK government announced sweeping spending cuts. Interestingly, negative emotions dropped during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Researchers note that these events do not necessarily correlate with the full extent of Twitter users’ changes in tone and mood. While the goal of the study was to monitor Twitter users’ reaction to the recession, researchers did not intend to interpret the significance of specific events. Instead, they intended to show how Twitter’s micro-blogging format and widespread use makes it an accurate tool for monitoring overall public opinion. The researchers note that regular analysis of tweets could allow public officials to predict riots or to gauge the overall hostility of well-connected populations. There are certainly limitations to the study’s applications. Because the researchers used a “word mining” technique to collect their data, their results are less accurate. Some users might use trigger words ironically or sarcastically, which should not count towards an overall assessment of public opinion. The researchers note that their study’s accuracy would improve if they were able to pick through the results by hand. However, as the study looked at more than 484 million tweets, researchers could not have accurately sorted their results without severely diminishing their sample group. The study also has a more obvious skew: it focuses on Twitter users. Twitter users are more likely to be young and female than other social media websites’ users, so the user base’s opinion is less accurate than a general unbiased poll. As the study used basic keyword analysis to track joy, sadness, anger and fear, it also provides a very simplified picture of the UK population’s reactivity. Given Twitter’s 140-character limitations, some users might use more hyperbole in their online updates than they would in their day-to-day interactions, which would trigger an unrealistically dramatic change in the research data. Nevertheless, the research shows the feasibility of tracking public opinion through social media websites. Researchers could see Twitter users react in predictable ways to holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. They could also instantaneously monitor public opinion during major news events to see visible changes in public opinion. The team’s future work will focus on a comparison of traditional media and social media. This will likely mean a comparison of general public polls and the research data to test the accuracy of the data. Until the researchers can test the accuracy of the data, any detailed analysis of the team’s data is premature. The research might show an accurate assessment of Twitter users’ opinions, but those users are certainly biased. This is not to say that the study isn’t exciting–future research on how social media users show their moods could have numerous advantages for social media marketers, political analysts and other professionals. Still, it is important to note that this type of research makes quick headlines, but analysts should give attention to possible biases before reading too far into the data.

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Can Twitter Accurately Show Public Moods?

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Today is an exciting day! CommunicationStudies.com is proud to announce the launch of its first research project, the Communication Degree & Major Survey. We’d like to get a good number of participants so we can gather informative and accurate data about the degree. If you are studying for a degree in communication, graduated with one, or are a communication professor, we would appreciate your help completing this survey. Take the Survey The survey is completely anonymous and should take just a couple minutes to complete. That means there are no excuses for not doing it and sharing it with people you know. The survey’s available now and will run until we feel we’ve collected enough data (early participation is greatly appreciated though). After that, we’ll post the findings up on the site. A quick look at the survey. If you’re able, a tweet, Google+ share, Facebook share, or blog post of your own would be incredibly appreciated. It’s our goal to reach as many people as possible and share something truly useful from the data. Take the Survey Thanks for your help and participation!

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Please Help: Take + Share the Communication Degree Survey

Today’s culture is obsessed with data. We love approval ratings of presidents, how the public feels about prescription drugs, and the ratings of our favorite TV shows. So it’s no wonder that infographics have been all the rage online. If you’re not familiar with infographics, here’s the scoop: they are a way to visualize and absorb data quickly through graphics. But just like anything, there’s good and there’s bad infographics. Bad infographics don’t go viral. Great ones do. Here are some tips for creating and designing brilliant, wonderful, great infographics. Great infographics tell a story The whole point of an infographic is to stray away from boring data. How do you do that? By telling a story. Anyone can slap some charts and graphs on a canvas and call it an infographic, but great infographics establish an emotional connection through stories. Stories can make anything interesting. Even the boring topics. Take a look at this interview with Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Bay, Peter Guber, about how to use purposeful storytelling to engage audiences: Take a look at this bad infographic: By: The Economist Not only is it ugly and its data is misleading, but it tells no story. I may now know some percentage changes in violent crime rates, but I can guarantee I’m not passing it on. It didn’t connect with me. Now take a look at this one: By: Veracode It’s a battle! A clash of the titans on one of the internet’s most important subjects today: privacy and security. It makes me ask, “Who am I rooting for?” See the difference? By creating a narrative you can engage audiences, draw them in, and make them want to pass around your infographic. Great infographics are specific Imagine trying to sum up the Royal Wedding. Where would you begin? There just are far too many elements to include. But the social impact of the royal wedding online, now there’s a concept. By: iStrategyConference.com Great infographics use short text Shakespeare once wrote, “..brevity is the soul of wit.” There is far too little time in this world for it to be wasted. Make it brief and make it concise. If you don’t, you’ll lose us in your monstrous paragraphs. And didn’t we click on this infographic link because we thought we’d get it quick and dirty? This is not quick and dirty: By: MisconceptionJunction.com This is: By: ADT Great infographic titles say it all Now this infographic isn’t bad, but it’s unclear. The title “The Mobile Advantage” tells us nothing. Does that mean people with mobile phones have more friends? Do mobile phones make us more money? Do they make us sexier? I have no idea because the title doesn’t tell me. By: Nuance Now take a look at this infographic: By: Jobvine The title says it all. “What Does It Take to Get a Job at Google?” I know exactly what this infographic is about. It’s going to tell me everything I need to do in order to get hired by Google. Clear and informative. Much better than a title like “Google Jobs.” Great infographics use credible sources One source from Wikipedia isn’t going to cover it. Credibility is everything. Strictly from an ethical standpoint, you don’t want to mislead people with the wrong data. Plus they’ll find out — which they always do — and you’ll be torn to pieces. If you can’t find the data you need or collect it accurately, don’t do it. Find a new concept. Simple as that. Here are a few sources for finding reliable data: Census.gov – This is the data collected by the United States Census Bureau. Data.gov – Data collected by the United States government. Data.UN.org – Data collected by the UN.

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What Makes Great Infographics Great

How different are we? The issue of whether the differences between men and women are real or imaginary has been a matter of much debate. Now a new study conducted by the University of Turin in Italy and published in the journal PLoS ONE claims to have uncovered evidence that large differences in personality exist between men and women. Previous research has lent little credence to the popular school of thought that men and women are so different that they may as well live on different planets. However, lead author Marco Del Giudice claims to have developed a more accurate method to measure and analyze what he says are significant personality differences between men and women. Under Del Giudice, investigators took personality measurements from more than 5,000 men and 5,000 women. They measured 15 different traits, including warmth and sensitivity. Unlike previous studies, Del Giudice’s project compared comprehensive personality profiles that considered many different traits, rather than focusing upon differences in the incidence of individual traits between the sexes. When the data is looked at this way, very large differences between men and women are seen. Del Giudice admits that these individual differences, taken separately, do appear much less significant. He contends, however, that previous researchers not only neglected to correct for measurement errors, but that their practice of looking at one trait at a time obscured the big picture. As a result, according to Del Giudice, previous investigators failed to recognize the full extent of personality differences between men and women. Related posts: Beautiful people convey personality traits better during first impressions Study Finds Surprising Gender Differences Related to Sexual Harassment Evidence Says Women Are Better Multitaskers Than Men [Study]

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Significant Personality Differences Between Men And Women Found [Study]

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