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Researchers Use Web to Determine Wednesdays Are the Worst

by Leila Brillson on August 24, 2009 at 12:48 PM


The usefulness of searchable, user-generated content apparently knows no bounds -- especially for zealous researchers who set out to determine exactly what all those bloggers, tweeters, and status updaters really think. Studies have shown that a nation's mood can be foretold on the Net, Twitter can be used to produce psychological profiles, and even desktops speak volumes. The analytical possibilities are endless.

So endless, in fact, that researchers have set out to solve seemingly unanswerable questions with such content. Take, for example, the Vermont University professors wondering which day of the week makes us unhappiest. Surveying 2.4 million Internet sites, Christopher Danforth and Peter Dodds scored phrases used on profiles and updates, ranking words like 'hatred' and 'betray' poorly and 'free' or 'fun' highly. Saturday and Sunday did well, of course, but surprisingly the pair discovered Monday to be the second happiest day of the week, due to individuals reflecting on their weekends. By Wednesday, of course, no one is thrilled, and the weekend is still two days away.

Once again, the increasingly update-friendly, share-all society being produced by Twitter and Facebook leads to interesting research possibilities. It's all there in large numbers, searchable and honest, creating a giant database of real emotion. As for Wednesday being the worst? Well, we had a feeling that was the case, so we instituted office doughnut day on Hump Day, scratching our itch for sugary deliciousness. We'd suggest you do the same. [From: Telegraph.co.uk]

Tags: mood, psychology, research, top, twitter, web 2.0, Web2.0, wednesday

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