Central bank communication and social media: From silence to Twitter

Abstract

This paper discusses the evolution of central bank communication, focusing on recent efforts by central banks to engage with a wider audience via social media. We document the social media presence of major central banks and discuss how analyzing Twitter content by and about monetary policy makers can inform about the effectiveness of communication in influencing beliefs. We focus on recent techniques employed in analyzing social media content in order to understand how central bank communication affects expectations and, subsequently, behavior in financial markets.