Social networks favor connections between individuals with similar characteristics , a trend known as “homophilia.” Recent studies indicate that, beyond demographic characteristics such as age, sex or race, psychological states such as loneliness can also define the relationships of users of a social network. Now, researchers at the University of Indiana (USA) have shown that, on Twitter, the general happiness or Subjective Well-being (SWB) of users determines with whom they relate , in such a way that the ‘tweeters’ they follow those with whom they share the same SWB level. In addition, by studying 102,009 active Twitter users for six months, researchers have found that the happiest people tend to ‘retweet’ other people who share that happiness. And the same happens with sadness.
This makes the popular microblogging platform “an important tool for understanding how negative and positive feelings spread when we establish social ties, ” suggest the study authors, who have announced that their next research will focus on finding out? Can the mood spread and affect the behavior of users in “real life” ?.
