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'Happiness Meter' Analyzes Blogs, Tweets

Eric Bland, Discovery News

Still, there are some problems with the software. For example, a sentence that reads "I am not happy," will register as a happy statement. Also, most people who blog and Twitter are younger than the average population.

Regardless of these issues, the new software gives happiness researchers a new way to analyze happiness.

"I think this tool offers researchers some really fascinating opportunities to ask great questions," said Robert Biswas-Diener of Positive Psychology Services, LLC and author of a book on happiness. "It would be a great real-time measure that could chart the emotional chatter related to all kinds of real-world events."

At this point the research is more descriptive then prescriptive; it doesn't provide any clues as to how people can increase their happiness. A general increase in the happiness would be a good thing, says Dobbs, but people still need a bad day here and there to appreciate the good ones.

"We don't want people to be happy all the time; that would be Brave New World," said Dobbs. "We clearly need a balance of good and bad days to keep us healthy and balanced."

HowStuffWorks.com: Happiness

Journal of Happiness Studies

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