Drew Jackson
AP Bio Current Events: October 3, 2011
Twitter Study Tracks When We Are :)
By Benedict Carey
Recently, Scott A. Golder and Michael W. Macy, sociologists at Cornell University, published a report that used Twitter “tweets” from more than two million people in 84 countries to track mood tendencies. By analyzing the emotional tone of people’s tweets (e.g. “awesome” and “agree” for positive moods, and “annoy” and “afraid” for negative ones), they found a consistent mood curve for people’s tweets that transcends culture and environment, and suggests that our moods are driven by underlying biological rhythms. Daily, the average user felt good around breakfast time (6 a.m. to 9 a.m.), then fell off gradually until hitting rock bottom between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., and finally drifting upward again, rising more sharply after dinner. Although overall mood was found to have peaked on the weekends, the same daily curve exists as during the weekdays, but is pushed back about three hours. The researchers also tracked people’s moods according to the seasons, and interestingly, did not find anything signaling the “winter blues” that many people seem to experience on short, cold days. They did, however, find an upward mood trend towards the spring equinox. This is the first time such text analysis has been used in a formal study, and there are still some kinks to be worked out. For instance, some users may tweet to their target audience, as opposed to how they actually are feeling. Also, the software is not yet sophisticated enough to detect the sarcasm that many Twitter users employ.
This study will have a profound effect on future sociology studies. The leaders of this study developed a technology to analyze text, and in the process opened up a whole new world of data for future scientists to exploit. With our world ever more reflected in social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook, this will surely be an invaluable tool in studying human tendencies. On a personal level, I will now be much more careful in what I display to the public on such websites, as I now know what type of people might be able to see it, and how such information might be used.
Overall, this article was fairly well written. It used a number of quotations from a wide variety of scientists, and was generally very thorough in dissecting the experiment from all angles. This includes the goal, the results, and possible sources of error that may have affected the results. It was not too data-oriented, and only gave the crucial statistics to the reader, which made the article easy to read and comprehend. One area where the author could have improved is in organization. Although all the necessary content was there, the article skipped around a good bit.
This article review written by Drew was very detailed and well-presented. Specifically, Drew opened his review extremely well, providing an efficient and clear opening and letting the reader know right away what the article is about. Also, I found that Drew’s personal connection he makes to the article is very interesting to read and evokes similar thoughts in my mind, for many people are on such social networking sites, so the article should make us even more cautious about what we share, as Drew points out. Finally, Drew outlines the important statistics of the study done by sociologists very clearly and well-presented.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, there were a few aspects of the review that could have been improved to make it even better. For example, Drew does not include just how the sociologists analyzed the emotional tone of people’s “tweets,” for that would be very interesting to learn how such “tweets” were analyzed. In addition, Drew could elaborate more on what he thought the author of the article could improve on. Drew briefly mentions that the author could improve his organization, but he could have further elaborated on what he means when he says that the article skipped around a good bit.
After reading the review, I was fascinated to learn that seasons do not have significant effects on people’s moods. I found this interesting because I would have assumed that the dark winter season would possibly affect people’s moods and possibly put them in a more depressed, blue mood. Overall, I enjoyed reading Drew’s review on this interesting and revelant topic.
The article “Twitter Study Tracks When We Are :)” was fascinating and Drew did a great job reviewing it. There were a few things he did exceptionally well. Firstly, he picked a perfect topic. It was relevant enough that any high school student would enjoy reading, since most are active on social networking sites, including twitter. Moreover, Drew did a terrific job explaining the findings in a concise manner. He was able to state the important facts (i.e. the mood patterns) without any superfluous information. This allowed the reader to really take away the important points from the article. Finally, Drew did a good job explaining the potential flaws in this testing, such as how it is impossible for the software to detect sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think Drew did a wonderful job with his review, there are a few things he could have done to make it a little better. First, I wish he had talked about how the scientists analyze the “tweets.” It would have been interesting to know the process behind these tests. Moreover, Drew could have elaborated a little bit more on how these tests will affect the future on science and how it relates to the world. Sure, he discusses how the new technology can be used, but what can we do with this information about our mood patterns?
Before reading this article, I had no idea our moods functioned in specific patterns. I find this interesting because I always thought something had to happen to shift your moods. I will be intrigued to learn why our moods act the way hey do, like why we are in a better mood at breakfast time.
I thought Drew’s review of the Article “Twitter Study Tracks When We Are ☺” Was Very eloquent as well as informative. I thought Drew did a fantastic job summarizing the findings of the article. Additionally, he employed analytical thinking to explain what was significant about this study beyond the obvious results it has provided us. I was impressed by and agreed with Drew’s analysis of how important this study may prove to be. I also thought it was valuable that Drew included not only what the article proved, about the mood patterns throughout a day, but also what it disproved, such as the winter blues. However, there were a few aspects Drew could have improved to make his review even better. Firstly, there was no link to the article, so I was not able to actually read what he was reviewing, possibly compromising the quality of my evaluation of his review, since I could not compare it to the real thing. In addition, regardless of whether or not the article did so, I think Drew should have applied some of his analysis to the actually findings of the article, especially when people are happy. Personally, It struck me that people were happy after meals, and that could suggest further studies regarding mood and food and how they go together. This article was very interesting to me because it is an interesting new way to collect scientific data, but I don’t know how I feel about the results, since I am most certainly not a happy camper in the mornings, regardless of breakfast, and I definitely suffer from the winter blues.
ReplyDeleteDrew summarizes this review in a very detailed way, and presents his point’s effectively. To be more specific I think the opening to
ReplyDeleteDrew’s article is very good. He does a good job of telling the reader what the article is about, and summarizes all the main points. Also, I found that Drew’s personal connection he makes to the article is very interesting to read and evokes similar thoughts in my mind, for many people are on such social networking sites, so the article should make us even more cautious about what we share, as Drew points out. The final thing that Drew does well is use statistics from the article in his review. This article is full of great facts, and Drew did well to use them.
On the flip side, there are a few parts of this review, that if improved, would have made it an outstanding piece. For example, Drew does not include just information on how sociologists study people’s tweets for their mood. This information seems extremely interesting, and I would have liked to hear more about it. In addition, Drew could elaborate more on what he thought the author of the article could improve on. Drew briefly mentions that the author could improve his organization, this comment however, is not particularly clear. I would have liked it if drew would have explained what made the article unorganized. Finally I think Drew could have went into a tad more detail when discussing the impact he feels this will have on all of our lives
One thing I found interesting from this review is the lack of affect seasons have on people tweet. It is the general assumption that people are happy during the warmer parts of the year, and sad during winter. This, however, is not reflected in people tweet. I find this interesting because I do usually feel slightly gloomy during the middle of winter, and I think my tweets would reflect that feeling
AP Biology Amy Pepe
ReplyDeleteCurrent Events Comment 10/4 October 3, 2011
I read the review written by Drew about the article which investigated the website “Twitter”, and people’s mood changes. Just from Drew’s first few sentences, I could tell he was able to relate to the article which made his review more personal and more fun to read. He also added a lot of detail from the article, adding in names of important people and details of the studies done. Lastly, Drew was able to point out shocking facts that the article highlighted in an interesting way.
Although this review was very well written, there is still room for improvement. After reading his review, I wish that Drew had talked about how the scientists analyze the tweets, and how the whole experiment was created in order to judge what emotion the tweets were conveying. A second thing that Drew could have done is added more detail about the scientists behind this all, and possibly if they had done any experiments like this in the past.
One thing that really shocked me is that the tweets showed that with the seasons, people are just as happy as they are in the winter as in other months. I would definitely expect results to show that people are less happy in the winter due to the longer darkness and colder weather.
The review written by Drew, about the social networking phenomenon "Twitter", and peoples moods change, was very well written. This review was very informative and included facts from the article to back up his ideas. It is evident that Drew was able to connect personally with the article, which proved to me that the review was understood well.
ReplyDeleteThis review was very informative, and the style in which Drew wrote it provided for an interesting and entertaining read. Many of the facts that Drew pointed out were a surprise to me, such as people's moods relating to the seasons. I was hoping that Drew would include more proof from actual labs tests and how these that analyzed tweets were conducted.
This week, I read Drew Jackson’s review of “Twitter Study Tracks When We Are .” Drew was very thorough and informative in his review, making it pleasurable to read. For example, in explaining how the study worked, Drew provided examples of what key words the researchers were looking for when determining the mood of a certain tweet. Additionally, he covered all of the bases on which the study was observing twitter moods: time of the day, time of the week, and time of the year. I also enjoyed Drew’s review because of his insight on how the contents of the article will affect our future. He makes a good point in stating that this newfound study on social media will provide breakthroughs in sociology in the future.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Drew’s review was well-written, there are two suggestions I have that could make it even better. In his critique of the review, Drew mentions the disorganization of the article. It would have been better if he had pinpointed certain areas where this occurs to make it more clear as to when and where the article skips around. A second improvement Drew could have made in this review was given a little bit of background as to what Twitter is. Though most of our peers are aware of this social network and some even use it, it would not hurt to just briefly describe its purpose and user base.
In reading Drew’s review, I was very impressed at the fact that this type of study could even be performed. It had never occurred to me that scientists could analyze the activity of social networks to understand human mood shifts as a whole. I am glad I decided to read this review because it has a direct impact on my own life and makes me more aware of my participation in such websites.