How Does Social Media Impact Trading?

The impact of social media on the stock market over the past few years has been nothing short of revolutionary. Led by applications built off Twitter and Facebook, traders, and investors are getting access to information that can change their decisions in a split second, where before you had to wait for mainstream media or channel checking to come back with their findings. People are sharing much more information now than in the past, which for a trader or an investor, is the lifeblood of this industry. Low cost access to information and content Blogging, tweeting and companies like StockTwits, which aggregates tweets based off ticker symbols, have truly become the new Bloomberg terminal. As technology continues to get better, speed and access to information to information gets cheaper and more accessible, and social media sites allow people to have a one stop shop for what they want to use it for. Whether it be a long term hold on UPS UPS, or a short term trade in Freeport McMoran FCX, traders have embraced social media as a way to speak with other traders, as well as bounce ideas off them. No longer will major investment banks and the big boys have all of the information. Sure, they will still have more access to information, as they have the means to pay for it, but as time goes on, and more people embrace social media as a way to exchange information instead of just telling us what you had for dinner, trading, and more importantly, Wall Street, will never be he same again.