Fear and hope in financial social networks: Evidence from COVID-19

This paper examines the diffusion of COVID-19 news on social media using a large sample of approximately 45 million tweets. Using textual analysis, I identify tweets containing COVID-19 news, and construct an index representing the intensity of Twitter discussions. Moreover, I use retweets and favorites as additional measures of investor attention to COVID-19. The results show that the intensity of Twitter discussions about COVID-19 (and about the treatment program) correspond to market returns. This suggests a role for financial social networks in transmitting information related to crises, such as COVID-19, and the resolution of crises.

Automated summary

This paper examines the diffusion of COVID-19 news on social media using a large sample of approximately 45 million tweets. The results show that the intensity of Twitter discussions about COVID-19 (and about the treatment program) correspond to market returns.