Facebook tracks collective moods

Social networking giant Facebook is now able to track how happy its US users are with the introduction of a Gross National Happiness Index.

The Index found that people on Mother’s Day were particularly happy, while 22 January 2008, the day after the Asian stockmarket crashed, and the day Heath Ledger died were particularly “sad” days.

The index measures happiness based on the words in status updates, with words such as “happy” and “awesome” counting towards happiness, while words such as “doubt” and “sad” count towards sadness.

“Every day, through Facebook status updates, people share how they feel with those who matter most in their lives,” Adam Kramer wrote on the company’s blog. “These updates are tiny windows into how people are doing. Grouped together, these updates are indicative of how we are collectively feeling.”

The social networking site has worked with psychologists to create the index. Other happy days include the election of US President Barack Obama last November, while Michael Jackson’s death in June dragged the index down to its second saddest day in two years.