Many vent on social media about rocky markets
Posted August 9, 2011 9:47 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If at least some of the market sell-off is based on fear, what role is Twitter playing in watching it or fueling it?
As a wave of worry grows, along with the uncertainty on the markets, many are letting angst run free on social media.
On Twitter, a writer from Idaho tried to use a little humour and posted: “Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes now claims you may already be a loser. #debtcrisis.”
Celebrities like Michael Moore also lashed out on Twitter: “Pres. Obama, show some guts and arrest the CEO of Standard & Poor’s. These criminals brought down the economy in 2008 and now they will do it again.”
One man wrote: “We’re doomed … we’re saved… we’re doomed again.”
Another said: “George W. Bush must be very happy, he put the U.S.A. on the road to bankruptcy and Obama gets the blame. #debtcrisis #economy.”
In terms of what impact social media is having on the markets, according to a study conducted by scientists from Indiana University and the University of Manchester, it has an almost 87 per cent accuracy rate at predicting the stock market.
These findings have spawned a variety of social media hedge fund startups.
Meanwhile, the U.S. congress has also been gathering feedback on the debt crisis on Facebook. Experts said that many politicians have embraced social media platforms because they allow them to communicate directly with constituents without having their messages altered.
The market meltdown is a front page story for many newspapers around the world.
In the Washington Post Tuesday, it read: “Worst day for world markets since ’08,” with a very telling picture of a man with his head in his hands, in front of an electronic board showing stock information.
The New York Times headline said: “A wave of worry threatens to build on itself.”
