Though the number of people accessing the internet over the past seven weeks has remained stable, traffic to online brokerage sites during the week ended Sept. 21 increased 30%, accompanied by soaring numbers of blog discussions related to the terms “wall street,” “bailout” and “401(k),” according to (pdf) data from Nielsen Online.
This increase signals that consumers are voicing opinions about the financial crisis, both on- and off-line, Nielsen said.
Discussion about economy-related terms remains significant. Nearly two percent of all internet blog posts on Sept. 29 mentioned the word “bailout.”
Discussion about “401(k)” paled in comparison to the other two terms, but did increase relative to the previous week, with 0.07% of posts including mention of it.
“While members of Congress are reporting an increase in phone calls and emails from constituents, many are sharing thoughts and concerns with the world online,” said Charles Buchwalter, SVP of research and analytics, Nielsen Online.
