Are you traveling this Memorial Day weekend? Planning to do a little shopping, too?

You’re not alone. IBM’s Social Sentiment Index, which aggregates public opinion from Twitter, blogs, message forums and other social media channels, has revealed a 46 percent increase in the amount of conversations about Memorial Day travel over last year.

And there’s good news for retailers, too – the ratio of positive to negative comments about shopping this weekend is up five fold on 2011.

Moreover, IBM have noted that sentiment on gas prices is considerably more positive than 12 months ago.

All of this, of course, is great news for the U.S. economy, and IBM have detailed their findings in this mini infographic.

“When analytics are applied to social media conversations, it identifies more than what people are talking about. This is valuable insight into people’s preferences and attitudes about a product or a service and helps us understand why people do what they do,” said Marty Salfen, IBM general manager, travel & transportation. “Being able to predict, plan or act on sentiment around Memorial Day travel in real-time can be an opportunity for businesses to capitalize on fast-moving trends. An airline could offer fliers different, more specific services or deals, transportation officials could provide more alternate routes, retailers could staff up for the long weekend.”

(Source: IBM. Shopping image via Shutterstock.)