This Algorithm Distills Your Life Story From Your Twitter Stream

Just how much do your tweets reveal about you? A lot, apparently

Researchers from Cornell and Carnegie Mellon University have created an algorithm that can tell a Twitter user's life story based on information shared over his or her account, according to the MIT Technology Review. By examining a person's tweets and interactions — and the tweets of his or her followers — professors Jiwei Li of Carnegie Mellon and Claire Cardie of Cornell say they can create a chronological timeline of someone's life

The algorithm starts by lumping tweets into four separate camps. Personal and non-personal, and time specific and time general. For example, a tweet about starting a new job would fall under the "personal - time specific" category, while a tweet about summer weather would be "non-personal - time general." Read more...