Blue Mondays get you down? Sadly, it only gets worse from there

‘Different places might act as a buffer for extreme emotions on days with adverse events’

FORGET “Blue Monday”. Britons actually feel most fed up on a Tuesday, social media posts suggest.

An analysis of nearly two million Tweets showed clear differences in emotions on different days of the week.

The messages of Londoners were the most angry and the least joyful on Tuesdays, while sadness peaked on Wednesdays, before messages cheered up again as the weekend approached, according to a study by the Kyoto Institute of Technology, in Japan.

People were more fearful midweek, but showed greater levels of anticipation for the coming days than they did at the weekend. Sunday was found to be the most joyful day.

The researchers were able to use location data to find out which places were associated with specific emotions. Tweets expressing disgust or anger were mostly linked to bus stops and train stations, while joyful tweets often came from hotels or farms, and sad messages from hospitals and car parks.

The study took place in 2016 and 2017, and the researchers found that specific events were associated with higher levels of collective emotions.

Sadness levels peaked in London following the Westminster terror attack on March 22, 2017, in which Khalid Masood drove a car at pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, injuring 50 and killing four people.

Fear levels peaked in the city following the London Bridge terror attack on June 3, 2017, in which eight people were killed and 48 injured when three terrorists drove a van into pedestrians before carrying out indiscriminate stabbings.

In contrast, the highest levels of joyful messages were seen around Christmas, New Year and on Valentine’s Day. Levels of trust and anticipation peaked during the general election on June 8, 2017.

The study authors said that social media gave the opportunity to view the mood and emotion of a city on a day-today basis, or in specific locations.

Writing in the journal PLOS One, they concluded: “More in-depth analyses could be carried out to examine the expression of emotions at more specific location categories – different types of restaurant, fast food, cafes etc, recreational facilities, sports, parks, bars.

“We would be interested in addressing more specific research questions, such as the degree different places might act as a buffer for extreme emotions on days with adverse events – during terrorist events, do bars help reduce fear when compared to places such as parks?

“The research could be expanded into areas such as digital archiving to record collective emotional responses.”