The News in New Media

Month: October 2021

The Murdaugh Family Saga Continues

October 29, 2021

If you’re from the Lowcountry of South Carolina you’ve most likely heard the name Murdaugh at one point or another. The Murdaughs have a long-standing history within the SC justice system serving as the top prosecutor for the 14th judicial circuit for three generations. Within the last five years, the Murdaugh family has been surrounded by corruption allegations, death, and criminal investigations. 

The demise of this southern dynasty has caught the attention of local and national news feeds. Investigative journalist Mandy Matney from FITSnews.com has been covering the Murdaugh family since 2019. Her podcast, the Murdaugh Murders Podcast, has received 17.1K ratings with 4.5/5 stars and is currently in the top 15 podcasts on Apple. CNN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, the Washington Post, the Associated Press and more have all been covering the Murdaugh series. While most discussion around the Murdaughs has been excluded to South Carolina, particularly Charleston, Columbia, Hilton Head, and Greenville, the name still has a reach close to 6,700,000,000 online. 

While whispers of gossip and suspicion have followed the Murdaugh family over the years, the family was thrown into the spotlight in the summer of 2019 when a deadly boat crash rocked the Lowcountry with the youngest Murdaugh son at the heart of it. The fatal boat crash killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach and injured two others, spurring multiple lawsuits and investigations into the Murdaughs’ secrets. 

Alex Murdaugh

Earlier this year, Paul Murdaugh was facing three felony charges relating to the accident. Then on June 7, 2021, Paul and his mother, Maggie Murdaugh were found murdered on their hunting estate in Colleton County, SC. Both deaths remain unsolved and are still under investigation. Following the death of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, information regarding the death of Stephen Smith lead to SLED reopening the case. Another death has also been linked to the family after a request from a local coroner spurred SLED to reopen the case of Gloria Satterfield. 

 

Three months after the death of his youngest son and wife, Alex Murdaugh attempted to commit suicide, despite alleging he had been shot in the head on the side of the road. This failed attempt came after Murdaugh had been accused of stealing millions of dollars and resigning from his family law firm.

The conversation is swirling around the scandals now coming out about the Murdaughs and the current investigations. Words such as “lawyer”, “Carolina”, “insurance”, “death”, “family’ and “shooting” are most common in relation to Murdaugh within the last 5 years, and #murdaugh has been the most popular hashtag used. 

After requests on social media, Dateline is set to premiere their ‘Murdaugh Saga’ in a two-hour special at 9 p.m tonight. The special is set to cover in-depth interviews with Gloria Satterfeilds family, highlight new details about Stephen Smith, and other recent developments. CBS is also covering the Murdaugh family investigations on 48 Hours Oct. 30 at 10 p.m. The ‘Murdaugh Mysteries’ episode will feature information about the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach.

Alec Baldwin Fatally Shoots “Rust” Crew Member

October 27, 2021

Last Friday, two members of the “Rust” film crew were shot. Alec Baldwin, an actor and producer of the film, shot what was believed to be a prop gun towards a camera killing director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and injuring director Joel Souza.

Since the incident, the Santa Fe county sheriff’s office has opened an investigation and provided more details surrounding the shooting. Baldwin, who plays an outlaw in the film, was demonstrating how he would draw his weapon for a scene set to be shot. The gun which was supposed to be filled with blanks discharged and hit the crew members mentioned above. Hutchins was hit in the mid section while Souza was hit in the shoulder. Hutchins was airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque where she was later pronounced dead. Souza was taken to a hospital in Santa Fe and has since been released.

The gun was reportedly checked for live rounds earlier in the day and was announced to be cold, meaning there were no live rounds in the chamber. Reportedly the gun was not re-checked after the crew broke for lunch. It is unclear at this time how the rounds ended up in the chamber. This same gun had allegedly been misfired already in the shooting of “Rust” causing crew members to walk off of the set citing unsafe working conditions.

Since the shooting, Baldwin has been a hot topic on social media. Over the past five days search terms “Baldwin AND shooting” and “Rust AND shooting” have amassed nearly 250,000 mentions across social media channels reaching over 6.3 billion users. The conversation peaked on Friday with 82.4 thousand mentions but has remained steady with at least  28.6 thousand mentions a day through Tuesday. Nearly all of the posts, 93.7 percent, held negative sentiment. Amongst the negative posts, #AlecForPrison garnered almost 1,000 mentions.

A main source of conversation is people blaming Alec and the rest of the crew for not taking appropriate safety measures.

The conversation has also taking a politically charged turn as Donald Trump Jr. reportedly produced a t-shirt mocking the incident. And other users are finding ways to compare this situation to that of Kyle Rittenhouse who shot and killed two people at a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin on August 25, 2020.

The deceased victim, Hutchins, has not been mentioned nearly as much as Baldwin. During the same time frame, Hutchins has only been mentioned 35,000 times by name. The hashtag #RIPHalynaHutchins trended briefly with almost 3,000 mentions. Most mentions were deemed to hold negative sentiment, which makes sense considering Hutchins lost her life, but many of the posts were showing condolences and support for Hutchins’ family.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVbXNsDg-We/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=cba82ceb-7252-4241-8a56-d758e5bdd9d1

https://twitter.com/Wirjil/status/1451433521147375616

As the investigation continues to progress, no charges have been filed against Baldwin; however, charges may be looming for Baldwin and/or other members of the “Rust” cast.

Author: Jacob Luksik

 

FBI Confirms Remains of Brian Laundrie Found

October 25, 2021

The case surrounding Gabby Petito has garnered national attention on social media. On Sept. 19, Petito’s body was discovered after a national search for her whereabouts. She was reported missing while on a vanlife trip across the United States with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, who was named a person of interest by the FBI. Shortly after the disappearance of Petito, Laundrie’s parents reported him as a missing person. Although Laundrie was not charged for Petito’s death, a federal court in Wyoming issued an arrest warrant for him. On Oct. 20, after national frustration surrounding his disappearance, authorities found human remains most likely belonging to Laundrie. On Oct. 21, dental records confirmed that the remains found were those of Laundrie.

Along with the remains, authorities also found a backpack and notebook belonging to Laundrie. The discovery came while they were searching the Carlton Reserve in North Port, an area that had been underwater but was recently reopened to the public.

“I know you have a lot of questions but we don’t have all the answers yet,” McPherson told CBS News. “We are working diligently to get those answers for you.”

What has the conversation been like on social media? At the Social Media Listening Center, we used a search for keywords “Brian Laundrie” and “remains,” “Brian Laundrie” and “found,” and “Brian Laundrie.” While this search may not be fully extensive, it provides a glimpse into the online conversation.

On Oct. 20 when the news was announced, the search yielded 237,430 mentions discussing the topic. On Oct. 21 when Laundrie’s remains were confirmed, the search yielded 285,957 mentions. Unsurprisingly, the overall sentiment of the search was 90.8% negative and 9.2% positive. However, it is difficult to gauge audience sentiment from sentiment analysis alone when discussing serious issues such as this. To get a better look at the conversation and the sentiment surrounding this topic, we paid close attention to the word cloud capturing the most common words and phrases associated with this search:

A word cloud showing the top keywords and phrases in this conversation.

To gain even further understanding of the sentiment surrounding this news, we looked at the most commonly used hashtags related to this search. Unsurprisingly, #brianlaundrie was at the top and had been used 5,000+ times in the span of 24 hours. Other top hashtags included #breaking, #gabbypetito, and #fbi. When searching the keyword “Brian Laundrie,” we found that some of the top themes of discussion the day the remains were found were “Search for Brian Laundrie,” “Gabby Petito,” and “Florida.”

Who is engaging in this conversation? The majority of mentions surrounding this topic are from female Twitter users in the 18-35 age demographic located in the United States. The top influencers on Twitter are predominantly news outlets, including BBC News, The New York Times, CNN, and Fox News. However, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has been an active voice in the conversation as well.

The keyword search also revealed that Reddit users are engaging in r/GabbyPetito, r/News, and r/InterestingAsFuck. One megathread in r/GabbyPetito received 1K+ upvotes and 5.6K+ comments. The thread sparked a conversation surrounding Laundrie’s involvement in the murder and his parents’ behavior. The post also linked to previous Reddit threads and sources covering the case.

The volume trend of the conversation has steadily declined since the news was announced. However, there will likely be more updates surrounding the investigation behind Laundrie’s mysterious death in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, we’ll continue to monitor this topic and others from the Social Media Listening Center.

Author: Kendall Phillips

Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, dies at 84.

October 22, 2021

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has died after complications from COVID-19 on October 18, 2021. Colin was the first Black person to represent the U.S. government on the world stage, as President Ge0rge W. Bush’s Secretary of State. He set many standards for the military and had a long career within the U.S. government. News of Powell’s death quickly spread online, with 1,151,416 mentions in the past week. The discussion has been most frequent on Twitter with the hashtags #covid19 and #colinpowell being most frequently used. 

Powell worked with many presidents both Democratic and Republican. He was a Vietnam veteran with 35 years in the Army and eventually rose to the rank of four-star general. While serving in Vietnam he received the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing several men and was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, twice. As a high-profile military official, Powell’s death has been covered by many of the mainstream news outlets, including CNN, BBC, and the New York Times to name a few. Additionally, his connections to both political parties run deep and sentiments from politicians everywhere can be found on social media. President Biden released a statement regarding Powell’s death honoring the late general. Former President Barak Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, all honored the memory of Colin Powell as well. 

 

Powell was regarded by many as a brilliant general who valued diplomacy and problem-solving. President Biden ordered flags to be flown at half-staff after receiving news of Powell’s death. Secretary Antony Blinken honored Powell at the U.S. Department of State, saying:

“He believed deeply that America was an exceptional nation, that we could and should lead with confidence and humility, and that the world was safer when the United States was engaged and its allies and partners were united”. 

Words commonly used in positive mentions such as “great”, “family”, “service”, “American”, “dedicated”, and “patriot” all speak to the positive opinions his fellow officials held for him. While having an illustrious career, Powell is often criticized for his part in the Iraq War, when he cited faulty information to the United Nations Security Council. Because of this Powell’s death has sparked a conversation about this blemish in his career. When looking at the most used negative words in mentions like “Iraq”, “COVID-19”, “war”, criminal”, “lied”, and “death”, they seem to be associated with Powell’s previous transgression.

Powell is known as a trailblazer within the military who set the precedent for future generations of military leaders. Powell grew up in South Bronx with Jamaican immigrant parents and worked his way up to one of the highest-ranking military offices. Powell’s memory will be that of many successes and accomplishments.

Ben Simmons Returns Only to Provide More Drama for 76ers

October 20, 2021

If you follow the NBA, you have probably heard a lot about Ben Simmons over the past few months. After the Philadelphia 76ers lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, rumors swirled that the 76ers were shopping the All-Star point guard. Shortly after this, Simmons requested a trade.

Despite Simmons request, he remains on Philadelphia’s roster. The 76ers have reportedly been asking for a large trade package in return for Simmons and have not budged on their asking price. However, this may change soon as Simmons continues to be a distraction.

In an effort to force his way out of Philadelphia, Simmons held out of training camp which proved to be a costly decision. The team has fined Simmons $1.4 million for his absence in the preseason and undisclosed amounts of additional fines for missed practices, team meetings, and workouts. Simmons finally returned to the team on October 11th with no warning. Although Simmons has returned, he might as well not be there. Videos showing Simmons practicing with a phone in his pocket and disregarding the team huddle got the internet talking earlier on Monday.

https://twitter.com/JeffEisenband/status/1450185217113825289

Yesterday, the 76ers announced they suspended Simmons for the season opener for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Simmons reportedly refused to participate in several drills despite being asked directly by head coach Doc Rivers. Rivers then sent Simmons home, and the team suspended him shortly after. While Rivers remains confident that Simmons will eventually buy back into the team, Simmons’ teammates and fans aren’t so sure.

Over the past 24 hours, Simmons has garnered 254,119 mentions on social media. Of these, 82.4% are negative. Simply put, 76ers fans are fed up with Ben Simmons. The entire NBA community is discussing Simmons led by the state of Pennsylvania which has accounted for the most mentions of any state at 12,040. The conversation is being dominated by male social media users age 18-35.

If having the fans turn on Simmons wasn’t bad enough, Joel Embiid has too. Embiid is the cornerstone of the 76ers franchise and regarded by many to be one of the best players in the league. Embiid kept it real with reporters yesterday when asked about Simmons.

Some NBA fans on Twitter are getting the popcorn ready as they watch the drama between the 76ers and Simmons unfold. Others are questioning if Simmons is even talented enough to be behaving like this.

#NBATwitter is having a field day with the jokes.

https://twitter.com/CJToledano/status/1450503473527549956

At this point, the relationship between Simmons and the 76ers seems to be irreparable. It will be interesting to follow along and see how long Simmons remains on the roster. And even if he is on the roster, will he play? If Simmons keeps causing problems in Philadelphia, will other teams even want to trade for him? The NBA is a sure-fire bet to supply sports fans with their fair share of drama, and this Simmons 76ers beef is delivering early on in the season.

Author: Jacob Luksik

 

Adele’s New Single “Easy on Me” Shatters Records

October 18, 2021

On Friday, Oct. 15, Adele shattered Spotify and Amazon Music records with the release of her new single “Easy on Me.” This single comes from her hotly anticipated album “30,” which is set to be released on Nov. 19. The teaser clip of the song alone garnered over 16 million views, becoming the most viewed clip by a female artist on Twitter. The poignant and emotional piano ballad is a plea to her son, Angelo, to help her through the aftermath of her divorce.

On the day of the release, Spotify announced on social media that the single had become the most-streamed song in a single day. “Easy on Me” stole the title from K-pop boy band BTS, which has held the crown since May of 2021. On Saturday, Oct. 16, Amazon Music announced that the single had received the most first-day Alexa song requests in Amazon Music history.

This is not the first time Adele has broken streaming records. Her previous album, “25,” had the highest first week sales in U.S. album chart history. Her 2015 single “Hello” became the fastest video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.

What has the conversation been like on social media? At the Social Media Listening Center, we used a search for keywords “Adele” and “Easy on Me” and “Adele” and “record.” The term “Adele” has been widely used and is not specific enough to be included in this search. While this search may not be fully extensive, it provides a glimpse into the online conversation.

On Oct. 15 when the single was released, the search found more than 129,800+ tweets discussing this topic. By Oct. 16 at 11:59 pm, the search found 231,238 mentions across all platforms. The overall sentiment of the search was 71.1% positive and 28.9% negative. To get a better look at the conversation and sentiment surrounding this topic, we paid close attention to the word cloud capturing the most common words and phrases associated with this search:

A word cloud showing the top keywords and phrases in this conversation.

To gain even further understanding of the sentiment surrounding the news, we looked at the most commonly used hashtags related to this search. We found that #easyonme, #adele, #adele30, and #blackpink are at the top. The hashtag #blackpink is in reference to the K-pop girl group Blackpink, who have also been climbing Spotify charts. When searching the keywords “Adele” and “Easy on Me,” we found that some of the top themes of discussion the day the news was announced were “Adele 30,” “Video,” “Hello,” and “New Single.”

Who is engaging in this conversation? Unsurprisingly, the majority of mentions surrounding this topic are from female Twitter users in the 18-35 age demographic located in the United States. The top influencers on Twitter are primarily news outlets, including Reuters, Forbes, BBC News, billboard, and others. Celebrities have also engaged in the conversation surrounding Adele’s new single as well, including American rapper Cardi B.

The keyword search also revealed that Reddit users are engaging in r/Popheads, r/Adele, and r/AskWomen. One of the most popular posts in r/Popheads included the Spotify link for “Easy on Me” and received 2.8K+ upvotes and 640+ comments. The comments contained statements of overwhelming support for Adele, including “I just love her voice so much. I know it’s cliché, but I really think she could sing the phone book and I would still love it. It just sounds so beautiful.”

The volume trend of this conversation has declined since the single was released. However, this conversation is not over just yet. Nov. 19 is just around the corner, so it’s likely Adele will continue to trend for weeks to come. In the meantime, we’ll be streaming “Easy on Me” from the Social Media Listening Center.

Author: Kendall Phillips

Does Jon Gruden’s Resignation Uncover a Larger Problem Facing the NFL?

October 13, 2021

Back in 2018, the Oakland Raiders, who have since relocated to Las Vegas, signed Jon Gruden to a 10-year contract worth $100 million to become the team’s new head coach. The Raiders signed Gruden in an attempt to reclaim a spot amongst the top teams in the NFL. However, signing Gruden has proven to be a mistake. Gruden resigned Monday night after leaked emails showed the head coach using racist, misogynistic, and homophobic language.

Emails released by the New York Times have put Gruden and the NFL under scrutiny once again. The original email detailed racist remarks directed towards DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association. Gruden insulted Smith’s intelligence and made a racially charged comment towards Smith’s appearance. This email came to light on Friday, but was not enough for Gruden to step down or the Raiders to take action.

Gruden resigned after another wave of emails was released regarding his use of misogynistic and homophobic language that spanned from 2011 through 2018. Gruden’s comments included criticism of women being able to referee in the NFL, refusing to draft gay players, calling Rodger Goodell numerous homophobic slurs, and more.

Since the news of Gruden’s resignation broke, social media users have flooded their feeds with their opinions on Gruden and the state of the NFL. Since Monday night, the search term “Jon Gruden” has amassed 537,725 mentions and has reached 6.4 billion users. As you might imagine, 89.5% of the content regarding Gruden resulted in a negative sentiment score. Here are some of the top words dominating the conversation.

Over the past 24 hours, the conversation has shifted to a larger issue facing the NFL. The emails were discovered amidst the investigation into the Washington Football Team’s culture of sexual harassment of women. However, the Washington Post reports that no more of the emails will be released.

The emails Gruden exchanged were with Bruce Allen, former president of the Washington Football Team, but all of the focus is riding on Gruden. Some social media users are suggesting we take a look at the bigger issue facing the NFL as a whole. While Gruden’s remarks are awful and should not be condoned in any fashion, the NFL clearly has a larger problem surrounding their culture than the words of one team’s head coach.

Gruden may be the only one taking the blame as of now, and he deserves his fare share, but this story is not done unfolding quite yet. It will be interesting to see if any more of the NFL’s dirty laundry gets aired out in the weeks to follow.

Author: Jacob Luksik

Netflix’s Squid Game takes over social media

October 8, 2021

Squid Game is a Netflix series produced in South Korea. It is a dystopian thriller that places adults with large amounts of debt in a world where they must play children’s games to survive and win cash to pay off the debt or die trying. The showed has gained international attention and hit Netflix’s number 1 spot in 90 countries since its debut on September 17 and has over 31.1 billion views on TikTok.

Worldwide Squid Game has received 12,583,046 mentions across platforms and a reach of 36,766,211,260. The series has had a number of impacts including its take on modern capitalist society and class disparity, controversy on translations and dubb casting, boosting interest in Korean candy, inspiring Halloween costumes, and even making an appearance on the San Antonio Spurs Instagram.

 

 

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A post shared by San Antonio Spurs (@spurs)

 

Worldwide the U.S. has the most mentions at 858K, next is Sri Lanka at 417.2K, Thailand at 338.6K, and France at 317.1K. The majority of the conversation around Squid Game has been on Twitter. Some of the words closely associated with Squid Game have been “watched”, “watching”, “Netflix”  and, “play”.

Some words have been translated to English.

Although there have been some critics of Squid Game the public sentiment is largely positive across platforms. The series has a  Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% fresh and an average audience score of 85%. The most popular hashtag used by far is #squidgame with 262,293 mentions.

Diving deeper into the sentiment across #squidgame, some negative themes emerge over episode 6 in the series including expressions of sadness, disgust, anger, and fear. Additionally, words commonly used were painful, crying, omg, and ruining. For viewers who have yet to watch the show, there may be an indication of what is coming and if you should have a tissue box close.

Despite pressure from the success of the first season and no confirmed second season, Squid Game director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, is contemplating the second installment of the series due to the enthusiasm of audiences.  Squid Game season 2 has yet to be officially confirmed however, the series is on pace to surpass Bridgerton as the most streamed show on Netflix.

Is Urban Meyer’s Time in Jacksonville Over?

October 6, 2021

Urban Meyer once again finds himself under the gun. If starting your career 0-4 as an NFL coach wasn’t reason enough to have fans breathing down your neck, Meyer added fuel to the fire this weekend. The backlash is in response to a video that surfaced of Meyer letting a woman, who was not his wife, dance on him in a Columbus bar.

https://twitter.com/ChiefSVP/status/1444494012942012418

This video has sparked conversation across social media. Since Monday morning, the keywords “Urban Meyer” have been mentioned approximately 165,000 times and reached 1.3 billion users. Not surprisingly, the conversation is being carried in large part by 18-35 year old males on social media. Another thing that should not come as a surprise is that 83.1% of the posts surrounding Meyer held negative sentiment.

The viral video seems to have ruined whatever relationship Meyer had left with his players. One player told Michael Silvers “He has zero credibility in that stadium. He had very little to begin with.” Silver posted a series of tweets that address how the locker room is viewing the situation.

One of the top trending hashtags surrounding Meyer was #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE . McAfee is a former NFL player who’s podcast has become one of the biggest hits amongst sports fans. McAfee addressed how he assumed players were treating the news in a NSFW segment on his podcast.

If you are unfamiliar with Meyer’s coaching history, you may think this is a harsh reaction for one lapse in judgement, but that’s just the thing. This is not the first time Meyers has been in the news for the wrong reasons. While still coaching at Ohio State University, Meyer was placed on leave and later suspended after reports surfaced that Meyer knew of Zach Smith’s abusive relationship towards his wife in 2018. Smith was an assistant coach on Meyer’s staff.

His time with the Jaguars started off rough when he hired Chris Doyle, who had been dismissed by Iowa after being accused of making racist remarks towards players. Meyer doubled down and defended his decision to the media. Things have not gotten much better since then. Here is a list composed by @MySportsUpdate of all the things that have gone wrong since Meyers joined the team.

Some of the conversation surrounding Meyer was led by analysts calling for his job. Here Marcus Spears calls for Meyer to be fired.

A larger portion of the conversation was driven by quick-witted football fans who dashed to social media in order to make fun of the coach.

https://twitter.com/MySeanwo99/status/1444492663181426690

As the Jaguars continue to look like one of the NFL’s worst teams and Meyer now becoming a distraction off the field, his days as a head coach in the NFL may be over sooner rather than later.

Author: Jacob Luksik

Britney Spears’ Father Suspended From Conservatorship

October 4, 2021

The legal controversy surrounding the prolific pop icon Britney Spears has been trending in the news for months. Since 2008, Britney Spears has been living under a restrictive conservatorship allowing her father, Jamie Spears, to control her financial, medical, and personal affairs. Her father was initially granted conservatorship over his daughter due to her past struggle with mental health issues. However, Spears has made it clear to the court and to the public that she wants the conservatorship to end.

In June of 2021, Spears addressed her conservatorship in a court hearing and described her father’s behavior as abusive. Spears’ attorney, Mathew Rosengart, has been fighting for her conservatorship to be terminated completely.

“Mr. Spears has crossed unfathomable lines. While they are not evidence, the allegations warrant serious investigation, certainly by Ms. Spears as, among other things, California is a ‘two-party’ consent state” said Rosengart in a court filing.

On Sept. 29, Judge Brenda J. Penny decided to suspend Spears’ father as conservator of her estate. This is a huge win for Spears and her legal team, and has resulted in the well-known hashtag #freebritney to trend once again.

What has the conversation been like on social media? At the Social Media Listening Center, we used a search for keywords “#freebritney” and “Jamie Spears” and “conservatorship.” The term “Britney Spears” alone has been widely used and is not specific enough to include in the search. While this search may not be fully extensive, it provides a glimpse into the online conversation.

On Sept. 29 when the news was announced, the search found 376,397 mentions discussing the topic. The overall sentiment of this search was 63.25% positive and 36.25% negative. However, it is difficult to gauge audience sentiment from sentiment analysis alone when discussing serious issues such as legal abuse. To get a better look at the conversation and the sentiment surrounding this topic, we paid close attention to the word cloud capturing the most common words and phrases associated with this search:

A word cloud showing the top keywords and phrases in this conversation.
To gain even further understanding of the sentiment surrounding this news, we looked at the most commonly used hashtags related to this search. Unsurprisingly, #freebritney was at the top and had been used 317,000+ times in the span of 24 hours. Other top hashtags included #britneyspears, #britneyvsspears, and #squidgames. The last hashtag refers to a South Korean fictional Netflix drama in which contestants play children’s games to win large prizes, but losers are killed. Many Twitter users have posted memes about Spears’ father competing in a real-life version of this game. When searching the keyword “#freebritney,” we found that some of the top themes of discussion the day the news was announced were “Free Britney Movement,” “Good,” and “Team.”
Who is engaging in this conversation? Unsurprisingly, the majority of mentions surrounding this topic are from female Twitter users in the 18-35 age demographic located in the United States. However, Twitter users from Brazil are also playing a major role in the conversation. The top influencers on Twitter include prominent news outlets such as Forbes, TIME, and ABC News, and others. Other celebrities, including Cher and Paris Hilton, have been active voices in the conversation as well.

The volume trend of this conversation has steadily declined since the news was announced. However, this conversation is not over just yet. John Zabel, a certified public accountant, will be the temporary conservator of Spears’ estate until the next court hearing. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next with this litigation. In the meantime, we’ll continue to monitor this topic and others from the Social Media Listening Center.

Author: Kendall Phillips