Study of TV Viewers Backs Twitter’s Claims to Be Barometer of Public Mood

Twitter might not be a window into the soul, but it does provide a clear view into what grabs our attention on television, according to new Nielsen research.

“You can use the Twitter activity to predict the engagement of the show,” said Avgusta Shestyuk, director of neuroscience at Nielsen Neuro, the division that conducted the research. “As the audiences are getting more engaged with the segment, the Twitter activity is getting more intense.” Nielsen’s findings support Twitter’s longstanding contention that the real-time, public orientation of its social network makes it a reliable barometer of the public’s changing moods and interests.