Emotions and Information Diffusion in Social Media—Sentiment of Microblogs and Sharing Behavior

TLDR

Social media has become a new communication paradigm that promotes information dissemination, yet little research has examined how emotions influence information diffusion. The study investigates whether sentiment in social media content is associated with a user's information sharing behavior. The authors analyze political communication on Twitter using two datasets totaling over 165,000 tweets. Emotionally charged tweets are retweeted more often and more quickly than neutral ones, suggesting that sentiment analysis can inform brand communication and advertising strategies.

Abstract

As a new communication paradigm, social media has promoted information dissemination in social networks. Previous research has identified several content-related features as well as user and network characteristics that may drive information diffusion. However, little research has focused on the relationship between emotions and information diffusion in a social media setting. In this paper, we examine whether sentiment occurring in social media content is associated with a user's information sharing behavior. We carry out our research in the context of political communication on Twitter. Based on two data sets of more than 165,000 tweets in total, we find that emotionally charged Twitter messages tend to be retweeted more often and more quickly compared to neutral ones. As a practical implication, companies should pay more attention to the analysis of sentiment related to their brands and products in social media communication as well as in designing advertising content that triggers emotions.