The idea of Twitter anger is so prominent that Monica Stephens, a geography professor at Humboldt State University in California, put together a map titled “The Geography of Hate.” The project was inspired, in part, by racial slurs on Twitter after President Obama’s re-election.
“Our results show that anger is more influential than other emotions like joy, which indicates that the angry tweets can spread quickly and broadly in the network,” the researchers wrote. But anger, like a potent virus, spreads the fastest and most widely of all. Of the four basic emotions into which they classified tweets, sadness and disgust barely travel. By analyzing posts on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter, they determined that anger is the most powerful online emotion. Besides the impulsiveness Reiss mentions, there’s a typical litany of virtual-world reasons for Twitter’s vitriol: anonymity, a perceived lack of consequences, a troll-ish desire to stir the pot.īut perhaps the most intriguing was revealed in a study published recently by Beijing University researchers. YouTube, for example, also has been known for attracting mean-spirited comments. You can find it on other social media platforms, news site comment boards - including on CNN.com - and pretty much all over the Internet. Such anger isn’t just limited to Twitter, of course. And if there is feedback or push back, you don’t necessarily even see it.”Īs of Friday afternoon, Twitter had not responded to a request from CNN for comment. “With Twitter, you don’t need to (do that).
“It’s very easy to jot something off and hit send, and you can impulsively say something without thinking it through,” he says, noting that it’s the reverse of the classic angry letter you write and then put in a drawer until you cool off.
Comments on sports, TV shows, politics, news media - when there’s something negative to be said, it will be said (occasionally with poor spelling and IN ALL CAPS) on Twitter.Īs Stephen Colbert summarized the Miss America outcry on “The Colbert Report,” “And Twitter, as usual, could not be happy.”ĭavid Reiss, a San Diego-based psychiatrist who specializes in personality dynamics, observes that Twitter’s impulsiveness can get the best of people. George Zimmerman is acquitted people fly off the handle.
Our Miss America is one of you,” posted is it about Twitter? Whether the events are earthshaking or trivial, the site of more than a half-billion accounts has something to say - and often, it’s upset.īen Affleck is named the new Batman the anger flows. “This is Miss America… not Miss Foreign Country,” said Al-Qaeda. Immediately, the Twitterverse started spewing. On Sunday night, Nina Davuluri, an American of Indian ancestry, was named Miss America. It’s also become a go-to place for intolerant bile. (CNN) - In the seven years since its founding, Twitter has become a go-to place for news updates, witty one-liners, political one-upmanship and even absurdist storytelling.