Morning tweets are more logical
EARLY morning tweets are often based on a logical way of thinking, while those in the evenings and nights are high on emotions, finds an analysis of 800 million tweets.
The findings showed that our mode of thinking changed at different times of the day and followed a 24-hour pattern. At 6am, analytical thinking was shown to peak; the words and language at this time were shown to correlate with a more logical way of thinking. However, in the evenings and nights, this thinking style changed to a more emotional and existential one.
“Circadian rhythms are a major feature of systems in the human body and, when disrupted, can result in psychiatric, cardiovascular and metabolic disease,” said Stafford Lightman, Professor at the Britain’s University of Bristol.
“The use of media data allows us to analyse neuropsychological parameters in a large unbiased population.
“It also allows us to gain insights into how mood-related use of language changes as a function of time of day.”
For the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the team examined thinking behaviour by analysing 7 billion words used in 800 million tweets. They found that tweets starting at around 5am to 6am, depict expressions with measures of analytical thinking through the high use of nouns, articles and prepositions.
This early-morning period also shows increased concern with achievement and power. On the other hand, the researchers found a more impulsive, social and emotional mode during evening.
Tweets during the evening correlated with language of existential concerns but anti-correlated with expression of positive emotions. These shifts occur at times associated with changes in neural activity and hormonal levels.