Facebook posting activity and the selective amplification of earnings disclosures

This study examines the determinants of Facebook activity levels with a particular focus on Facebook activity around earnings announcements. Facebook activity is generally higher for firms with higher levels of analyst following, individual ownership, and trading volume, indicating that it is respon...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cready, W.M (Author), Hasan, R. (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sun Yat-sen Medical University 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
LEADER 01574nam a2200181Ia 4500
001 10.1016-j.cjar.2019.02.001
008 220511s2019 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 17553091 (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a Facebook posting activity and the selective amplification of earnings disclosures 
260 0 |b Sun Yat-sen Medical University  |c 2019 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjar.2019.02.001 
520 3 |a This study examines the determinants of Facebook activity levels with a particular focus on Facebook activity around earnings announcements. Facebook activity is generally higher for firms with higher levels of analyst following, individual ownership, and trading volume, indicating that it is responsive to investor demand effects. Facebook activity also increases around earnings announcements, with the increase being largely attributable to posts containing earnings news. In general, therefore, firms use Facebook posts to amplify earnings news. Such activity is selective, however; it is lower for firms with high levels of information asymmetry, for firms reporting earnings that exactly meet the consensus analyst forecast amount, and when the earnings news is negative but the accompanying price movement is positive. Hence, firms appear to use Facebook to manage the level of attention paid to earnings news. © 2019 Sun Yat-sen University 
650 0 4 |a Disclosures 
650 0 4 |a Earnings announcements 
650 0 4 |a Social media 
700 1 |a Cready, W.M.  |e author 
700 1 |a Hasan, R.  |e author 
773 |t China Journal of Accounting Research