You can read what netizens are saying on Twitter, but do you know what they're feeling?
Twitter has added a new tool that allows online users to monitor their activities and followers better. SGI, or
Silicon Graphics International, worked with a number of experts from the University of Illinois to monitor international tweets.
The partnership project was called
Global Twitter Heartbeat, featuring the UV 2000 Big Brain supercomputer of SGI. Browsing the maps, online users can immediately see negative comments posted on the social micro-blogging site.
The heartbeat maps will show tweets described as happy, angry, nervous or excited.
The supercomputer reviews every tweet to determine its place of origin, the tone values and intensity. As a result, a heat map infographic will be portrayed, showing which areas have the most number of angry or happy Twitter users in the meantime.
Out of the 400 to 500 million tweets posted by users every day, the Global Twitter Heartbeat will monitor around 10% to show the feelings of Twitter users from everywhere. The reports are particularly useful especially during major events like the 2012 US Presidential elections and the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.
The red patches indicate negative posts while the blue patches show positive sentiments. Different regions in American and the world can be monitored.
Different groups and companies can use the findings of the Global Twitter Heartbeat project to determine the various factors that causes distress or happiness in a given region or location. Businesses can get some information on how sentiments arise depending on the current circumstances.
Certain products, promos and company events can be analyzed based on the responses and sentiments of online users. The results can lead to effective programs and approaches that will motivate people as well as improve the tracking capabilities of related websites. These can also work well with other devices that handle emergency situations and natural calamities.
