How’s your day going so far? Follow-up question — are you going to tell your friends all about it online? Because a lot of us do, whether that’s venting our frustrations or celebrating our wins. You know, things like, “The cute barista remembered my name… it’s gonna be a good day!” and “Ughhhh someone stole my lunch from the fridge! Could this day get any worse?! #fml.” No social media platform is better suited for this emotional outlet than Twitter, so Brandwatch took a look at tweets from all around the country and the world and published their findings in The Twitter Happiness Report: A Study on Positive and Negative Emotions Expressed on Twitter. They’re revealing which states are walking on sunshine, and which ones are just Negative Nancys.
Happiest States vs. States Having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Go west, young man (or lady), or south, because that’s where all the shiny, happy people seem to live. Georgia, Colorado and South Carolina have the highest Good-Days-to-Bad-Days tweet ratios, while Delaware, West Virginia and Iowa have the lowest. But that’s not a blanket statement about any of those states, because users who live in urban areas tend to Tweet much happier thoughts than those in rural areas. Some of the jolliest cities are Denver, L.A. and Nashville, while some of the saddest include Louisville, Fort Worth and Boston.
Battle of the Sexes: Happiness Edition
Just like in offline life, it breaks down to a “seeing the forest for the trees” type of mindset where men and women are concerned. When it comes to tweeting about day-to-day activities, guys are more likely to be positive than girls are. But ladies tweet a lot more about life in general (as in, “Loving life right now!” or “I hate my life”) than they tweet about day-to-day stuff. It all works out in the end, because ultimately men and women are on the same page when it comes to how we feel about life in general.
Everybody’s Working for the Weekend
No surprises here! The cycle of the traditional work week is a glass case of emotion. Tweeters are WAY happier with their days on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and pretty much everyone gets a case of the Mondays. We all must be using our days of rest properly as well, because we tend to be much more reflective about life over the weekend.
What Matters Most in Life
Not to blow your mind or anything, but what is life? It’s a question for the ages, and on Twitter, it seems to boil down to friends + family, money and work. Money is a pretty big day-maker (pay day, woop woop!), and work is what’s negatively affecting most tweeters’ general happiness in life. But the biggest source of both daily and long-term well-being is friends + family.
5 Tips for Boosting Your Mood
We assume you’ve had a look at your own Twitter feed to see how you measure up to these statistics, and if you’re anything like us, you’ve realized that there’s always room for improvement in the positivity department. Here are some ways to start looking on the bright side.
1. Wake up on the Right Side of the Bed: Get in the habit and become a morning person.
2. Travel to the Happiest Countries in the World: It’s a surefire way to make a big perspective change.
3. Get Your Yoga on: Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. Now, do you really need to tweet about your boss being a jerk?
4. Learn the Science behind a Happy Relationship: There are no surprises here — happy wife, happy life.
5. Hit the Books: Learn something new about yourself every day with an online course on happiness.
Do you think you’re more positive/negative on social media than you are IRL? Share your feelings in the comments!
