The Internet Democracy: A Predictive Model Based on Web Text Mining

Abstract — This thesis describes an algorithm that predicts events by mining Internet data. A number of specialized Internet search engine queries were designed in order to summarize results from relevant web pages. At the core of these queries was a set of algorithms that embodied the wisdom of crowds hypothesis. This hypothesis states that under the proper conditions the aggregated opinion of a large number of non-experts is more accurate than the opinion of a set of experts. Natural language processing techniques were used to summarize the opinions expressed on a large number of web pages. The specialized queries predicted event results at a statistically significant level. These data confirmed the hypothesis that the Internet can function as a wise crowd and can make accurate predictions of future events. T I