Social media platforms foretell the future through examination of worldwide events

Communication device for social media contacts

Editor--Can we tell the future by watching and reading Facebook or Twitter? Some folks believe we can and that in doing so we can create better avenues for dealing with problems by knowing each other, our wants and needs better.  But how does this happen?

Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels tend to record our moves, our likes and dislikes and our online behavior.  Internet research tells us that social media is a tool to help better comprehend and anticipate human behavior.

"It is undeniable that social media (provides) an extremely rich source of information, and it makes sense to exploit that data to make predictions or forecast future trends of offline phenomena," says Daniel Gayo-Avello, who is among the guest editors for the current issue of Internet Research.  "There are also measurable differences in the way that credible and non-credible (social media) messages spread. Special measures can be used to filter out those messages that are not trustworthy."

Gayo-Avello goes on to say that statistical methods combined with social media data can help build predictions models.says the studies also suggest that using statistical methods, in which external (but scarce) data is combined with social media data to build a predictive model, can be a promising approach.

"Up to now, a number of different scenarios-such as (those related to) the economy, politics, health or event detection-have been studied with varied results. For instance, prediction of flu and other epidemic outbreaks seem to be reasonably predictable on the basis of user-generated content," says Gayo-Avello. "Social media can be used to at least predict the present. It can be used as a proxy measure for variables that cannot be measured in real time on a general basis, such as unemployment rates or public opinions on a number of issues."

 Bill Balderaz, president of Fathom Columbus,  notes his company uses social media to predict certain outcomes, including the most recent presidential elections.  They correctly predicted who would win.

"Social media is the largest, fastest and most uninhibited focus group ever created. (The Internet Research studies) demonstrate that knowing how consumers feel is a predictor of how they will behave," says Balderaz, who's confident his firm can accurately predict everything from stock prices to climate change based on social media conversations.

"It's not as hard as you would think," says Balderaz. "We use historical data correlations to predict the future. We analyze social media patterns going back years, then we correlate social media conversations with real events."

So it is possible to predict the future using trends on social media.  So while participants wonder how their personal information and habits are used, perhaps some of it will end up with good intentions, like predicting an epidemic enough in advance that people can get medicines and help in time.

Should fortune tellers receive money for their predictions?

Ghenrietta Gordon — Some of us decide to consult different ways of untraditional remedies to better understand ourselves and our problems, such as astrological charts, magical spells, fortune tellers, etc. I have been asked before why fortune tellers have to charge for their services. If they possess such an extraordinary gift to foresee things in one’s destiny far in the future before any events actually start to happen, it must be a gift from above that is in no way to be insulted by any monetary gain, right? Not quite…

[caption id="attachment_16225" align="alignright" width="229"] Attribution: John Stephen Dwyer[/caption]

Any authentic fortune teller is supposed to charge a little fee for her or his services for the simple reason that they are of all people very much familiar with how the matrix of energy exchange works. They give their talent to you by reading the cards and explaining the events coming up in your future using their intuition. I am talking about authentic readers, aka healers, who take this process seriously and who would do their best to help the ones in need. The fees do not have to be in the form of currency. It can be anything you can bring or you think you can afford.

One of the most talented and simply benevolent people I have heard of was Vanga, the Bulgarian prophet and healer, who cured most unbelievable and complicated diseases with a piece of… sugar. People from all over the world were lining up to see that amazing woman just to hear her advice or a simple recommendation, as well as the way they could heal. She never charged a flat fee for any of her help. She thus asked everyone to bring her flowers, candy, or any other thing they could spare, if they couldn’t afford to pay her. The reason that any energy work requires some kind of compensation, whether if it is monetary or not, is because when a reader or healer contributes a certain amount of work for your benefit and well-being, the energy he gives you has to be compensated or returned to that healer. If one does not pay for such service or healing session, then that person is being held in debt to the other individual and until that debt is re-paid, there should be no permanent improvement in the health state of such individual. By compensating a fortune teller or healer, we simply release ourselves from an unnecessary energy debt that can create unfortunate events in our future.

Remember, any energy has to be replaced with another energy. A sacred place never stays empty, as an old saying dictates. In simple language, one always has to return the favor, not to maintain in debt. If you give something away to someone, he has to give you something back to keep the balance intact and prevent future misfortune. Same system applies to fortune tellers. You pay them in exchange for their services. I don’t approve of any fortune tellers taking a huge portion of your money for reading the cards or any intuitive readings they may perform for you. I call them charlatans. If you see a big fee for a reading, your best decision would be to walk away. Any true authentic teller will never take more than you can give, for their talent is being witnessed by the higher power and at any time it can be taken away from them, not to consider other misfortunate consequences they may experience in their lives due to their own greed. Always listen to your heart for it is the best and most truthful communication you can ever achieve and make your decision based on how comfortable you feel in front of a certain individual. If you are hesitant for any reason, it is best to not get involved.

The most sincere and talented psychic readers I have ever known took very little compensation for their help they provided with their readings, and yet felt most proud of the work they had done and the comfort they brought by their services. Indeed, what can be more rewarding than directing someone onto the path with light and make them see a solution they have been looking for, therefore changing their whole life for the better?

While I am on the subject of energy exchange, I would like to let you in on a very interesting detail regarding your associations with different people. I am sure you have heard a statement such as “misery attracts misery.” Surprisingly, it works both ways. Did you ever notice that your life starts to shape up into a different variety of fortunate circumstances after having a relationship or friendship, personal or not, with someone who is positive, successful, and ambitious, as well as a row of very unfortunate events after associating with someone who is negative, bored and simply depressed? In quantum physics, this phenomena can be explained by witnessing a certain energy flow that surrounds each and every one of us. People who have great self-esteem and are successful in their lives' project a different type of energy, rather than people whose circumstances leave much to be desired. The above mentioned energy of a positive individual maintains on a much higher vibration than the energy from a somewhat negative and perhaps depressed person. The latter category has a very low vibration. Each energy attracts the same kind of vibration. When you associate with a successful person, you start soaking up his energy without realizing it with your conscious mind, therefore some things or events in your life begin to take a different turn, for the better.

The same factor is at stake when you associate with negative people, taking in some of their projected energy upon yourself. Again, in the astral world, alike attracts alike, plus attracts plus, and the other way around. Considering all of our friendships and other relationships conceived in our aura long before they happen in the physical world or our reality, if you will, depending on your state of mind and your own perspective of yourself, you attract certain individuals who exhibit the same type of energy and similar characteristics as yourself. The more positive you become in your thought process, the more positive and successful people you will be attracting into your life. Change your thoughts, and you will change your life! Sounds very simple, and yet so difficult to do. It must be much easier to think negatively. In fact, it requires very little effort to do so. One has to alter his thoughts and constantly follow up with them not to slip down to a negative path trying to stay positive. Well, have you ever asked yourself if it is worth the effort?



About the Author

Ghenrietta B. Gordon has previously had a few publishing credits such as documentaries on travelling, short stories, and articles for newspapers and magazines. She is a University of Foreign Languages graduate with a Bachelor’s degree. She also has completed four scripts for film production in various genres, such as historical drama, romance, and comedy. In her free time, she enjoys life coaching and writing her new nonfiction projects.