Topic: From Feeds to Ballots: Social Media Discussions and Shareholder Voting

Date & Time: 10:00-11:30  May 7, 2026

Online Venue: #Tecent Meeting：929-120-116

Organizers: School of Accounting, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics; Liaoning Province Capital Market Finance and Accounting Graduate Innovation and Academic Exchange Center

Abstract：

Using an extensive dataset of Twitter posts from 2012 to 2021, we systematically examine discussions pertaining to shareholder voting for S&P 1500 firms. Our analysis reveals a marked increase in voting-related tweets over the years. Furthermore, companies typically witness a spike in such tweets as their annual shareholder meetings approach. Individuals demonstrate significant engagement by actively participating in these discussions during the period preceding annual meetings. Our results also indicate that both the volume and sentiment of voting-related tweets vary according to firm characteristics and specific voting topics. Finally, we show that the volume and sentiment of voting-related tweets prior to annual meetings correlate with actual voting outcomes.

Introduction of Speaker:

Zheng WANG is a Professor  at City University of Hong Kong. In recent years, she has published over a dozen papers in UTD24 and FT50 journals, including The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Organization Science, and Production and Operations Management. She serves as an Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member for journals such as Production and Operations Management, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, and Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting and Economics.