Emotions expressed on Facebook can be contagious, according to researchers at the University of California. Researchers studied the messages of more than 100 million users, and found that "emotional changes in one person caused emotional changes in another person."
The data, which was first published in the Wall Street Journal, showed that the number of negative posts increased 1.16 percent when it was raining, and positive comments dropped 1.19 percent. And when friends living in other cities where it wasn't raining read a gloomy message, their moods also darkened.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Why au pairs might become a thing of the pastUnder The Radar Brexit and wage ruling are threatening the 'mutually beneficial arrangement'
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - political anxiety, jury sorting hat, and more
-
Amazon ending 'Just Walk Out' grocery checkoutSpeed Read In its place, the company will let customers scan while they shop with Amazon Dash Cart
-
Justice Department bites Apple with iPhone suitSpeed Read The lawsuit alleges that the tech company monopolized the smartphone industry
-
House votes to force TikTok to sell or face US banspeed read The House passed a bill to ban TikTok on national security grounds unless it sells to a non-Chinese company
-
Apple kills its secret electric car projectSpeed Read Many of the people from Project Titan are being reassigned to work on generative AI
-
Cellphone use may be lowering sperm countSpeed Read Electromagnetic radiation could be affecting male fertility
-
Nasa reveals first findings from asteroid that could explain origins of lifeSpeed Read Sample from Bennu has been found to contain an abundance of water and carbon
-
NYPD to monitor Labor Day parties using surveillance dronesSpeed Read
-
Elon Musk announces change to Twitter logoSpeed Read
