Social media is having an increasing influence on UK investors, according to behavioural finance firm Oxford Risk.
Investors surveyed by the firm used Facebook (7%), Twitter (6%) and Linkedin (5%) as a key source of information for their investment decisions.
For younger investors, social media held more sway over their decisions.
One in five investors (20%) aged 18 to 34 said social media channels were the most important sources of information for managing their investments. This compared to 4% of investors aged 35 to 54, and 4% of investors aged 55 and over who saw social media as their main information source.
Greg Davies, head of behavioural finance at Oxford Risk, said: “The quickfire comments seen on social media are far too often based on amateurs’ knee-jerk responses to market fluctuations, which leads to all kinds of bad decisions and losses. Investors need to base their decisions on long term views with a realistic view of their goals and attitudes to risk.”