New Study says Twitter Can Predict US Elections

A study conducted by Indiana University found that Twitter may be able to predict election outcomes. The study found that the more a candidate was mentioned on Twitter the better their chances of winning an election. 

"From the beginning, we were looking to construct simple and easy to operationalize measures of political behavior and attitudes that could be useful to social scientists," said Joe DiGrazia, a researcher for the study. 

The study discounted the candidate's position if they were an incumbent or if the press had covered them more than other candidates. The researchers algorithms and data remain valid, while recognizing that 15 percent of internet users use Twitter and eight percent of American adults use Twitter daily. 

This wasn't big news for us at PolitcIt because we have been using the It Score to predict election outcomes throughout the 2012 election with about 90 percent accuracy. The good news is we will be giving every politician the opportunity to measure and manage their digital influence through our new Political Campaign Software. 

It is nice to see that academics are finally starting to catch up. 

To read the full article click here. 





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   By Kylee Geisler
   Social Media Analyst at PoliticIt llc.