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Twitter activity, investor attention, and the diffusion of information

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  • David Rakowski
  • Sara E. Shirley
  • Jeffrey R. Stark

Abstract

We examine the impact of Twitter attention on stock prices by examining over 21 million company‐specific tweets over a 5‐year period. Through a quasi‐natural experiment identifying official Twitter outages, we find that Twitter influences stock trading, especially among small, less visible securities primarily traded by retail investors. In addition, we determine that Twitter activity is associated with positive abnormal returns and when tweets occur in conjunction with traditional news events, more information is spread to investors. Finally, we show that retail investor activity drives the Twitter effect as institutional investors less actively trade the affected stocks.

Suggested Citation

  • David Rakowski & Sara E. Shirley & Jeffrey R. Stark, 2021. "Twitter activity, investor attention, and the diffusion of information," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 3-46, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:finmgt:v:50:y:2021:i:1:p:3-46
    DOI: 10.1111/fima.12307
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jing, Wei & Zhang, Xueyong, 2021. "Online social networks and corporate investment similarity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Nian Li & Chunling Li & Runsen Yuan & Muhammad Asif Khan & Xiaoran Sun & Nosherwan Khaliq, 2021. "Investor Attention and Corporate Innovation Performance: Evidence from Web Search Volume Index of Chinese Listed Companies," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-23, April.
    3. Alexander Nekrasov & Siew Hong Teoh & Shijia Wu, 2022. "Visuals and attention to earnings news on twitter," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 1233-1275, December.
    4. Bhagwat, Vineet & Shirley, Sara E. & Stark, Jeffrey R., 2024. "Task-oriented speech and information processing," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Christophe J. GODLEWSKI & Katarzyna BYRKA-KITA & Renata GOLA & Jacek CYPRYJANSKI, 2022. "Silence is not golden anymore? Social media activity and stock market valuation in Europe," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2022-04, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    6. Chen, Xing & Wu, Chongfeng, 2022. "Retail investor attention and information asymmetry: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. Ryan Flugum & Choonsik Lee & Matthew E. Souther, 2023. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Firsthand experience and EDGAR search activity in Las Vegas casino hotels," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 52(3), pages 409-432, September.
    8. Md Miran Hossain & Babak Mammadov & Hamid Vakilzadeh, 2022. "Wisdom of the crowd and stock price crash risk: evidence from social media," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 709-742, February.
    9. Francisco Guijarro & Ismael Moya-Clemente & Jawad Saleemi, 2019. "Liquidity Risk and Investors’ Mood: Linking the Financial Market Liquidity to Sentiment Analysis through Twitter in the S&P500 Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Chen, Zhongdong & Craig, Karen Ann, 2023. "Active attention, retail investor base, and stock returns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    11. Goodell, John W. & Kumar, Satish & Li, Xiao & Pattnaik, Debidutta & Sharma, Anuj, 2022. "Foundations and research clusters in investor attention: Evidence from bibliometric and topic modelling analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 511-529.
    12. Dunbar, Kwamie & Treku, Daniel N., 2024. "Examining the impact of a central bank digital currency on the access to banking," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Cao, Sean Shun & Fang, Vivian W. & (Gillian) Lei, Lijun, 2021. "Negative peer disclosure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(3), pages 815-837.
    14. Zhibing Li & Jie Liu & Xiaoyu Liu & Chonglin Wu, 2024. "Investor attention and stock price efficiency: Evidence from quasi‐natural experiments in China," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 175-225, March.
    15. Yu-Fen Chen & Cheng-Few Lee & Fu-Lai Lin, 2023. "The influences of information demand and supply on stock price synchronicity," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1151-1176, October.

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