Twitter Correctly Predicts Outcome of NFL Playoffs

The ball flies just beyond the grasp of San Francisco 49ers tight end Delanie Walker (46) during the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 30.
Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press

As further evidence of the power of social media, Twitter talk recently correctly predicted that the Baltimore Ravens would win the AFC playoff game and the San Francisco 49ers would dominate the NFC division to become the two teams to compete in Super Bowl XLVII. Twitter’s Super Bowl prediction that San Francisco will win the big game remains to be seen, but the social media network’s football forecasts have been amazing accurate so far. Wired.com explained why Twitter’s so-called “crystal ball” has been so successful for football.

Twitter is certainly not telepathic, but the social media network does possess data from conversations that may have predictive power. These playoff predictions were based on data taken from Twitter conversations about the final four playoff teams, which also included the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots. The comments and conjecture from these passionate football fans were carefully calculated to project the final two teams.

The conversations were analyzed through eight primary emotional benchmarks. These included excitement, elation, friendliness, sadness, anger, and shame, among others. Using keyword searches rather than scientific analysis, Twitter talk about each of the four teams was tracked and measured for these positive and negative emotional responses and carefully graphed to reveal overall trends.

Interestingly, the emotions of grief and anger were the most powerful indicators of the teams that would meet in the Super Bowl. Twitter reactions to the shocking games and heartbreaking moments leading up to the playoffs weighed heavily in the final forecast.

With the Super Bowl just weeks away, Twitter is expected to be filled with football talk and analysts are watching and waiting to see if Twitter can score another predictive win.

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Read more at Wired.com.