Social media as a source of knowledge used in financial market investments

Abstract

Social media are a source of an enormous amount of data that can support investment decisions, with the development of digital technology in the field of data processing making the analysis of the content published on sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube an indispensable part of the investment process for many financial market participants. The aim of this study is to identify the applications of social media in financial market investing, as well as undertaking to determine the position of social media among the available sources for obtaining market information. The empirical data used in the analysis was obtained through a survey carried out using the CAWI method. The results of the survey indicate that social media are an important source of information, especially for respondents with experience in financial market investments, although they are inferior to financial portals in this respect. The varied use of the social media platforms analysed was also recognised. The main advantage of using Twitter was identified as the ability to monitor current trends and follow the profiles of investment experts, for Facebook it was the ability to join investment-themed groups, while YouTube was valued for its access to educational content.