'Twitter can help predict stock market movements'

Microblogging website Twitter can help predict the swings and throws of a stock market much like or rather better than any financial analyst, scientists say. Researchers at the Indiana University who analysed nearly 10 million tweets, or 140 character messages, found they could predict the rise and fall of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, in some cases nearly a week in advance. The findings, the scientists said, could help investors game the market to make a quick buck, Discovery News reported. Jonah Bollen, an IU scientist who led the study along with Huina Mao, said: “These online environments are starting to drive real-life social phenomona.” A growing body of research is mining information from social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and blogs.