The News in New Media

Month: November 2021

Adele Returns

November 19, 2021

After a much-anticipated wait, Adele’s album “30” has been released since her last album in 2015. So far reviews on the album from fans and critics alike have been positive. Overall, online users have a majority positive sentiment at 69.4%.  Adele’s YouTube videos for “30” currently have combined more than 169 million views. “Adele” has received 1,500,140 mentions just within the last week; these numbers continue to grow upward as her newest album gains popularity. #Adele currently has over 200,000 mentions across platforms. “30” is currently #1 on Apple’s album chart, with 4 songs in the top 10 song chart. 

Prior to her album release, Adele dropped her track “Easy on Me” on October 15th. Since its release “Easy on Me” has broken the record for the most-streamed song in a single day on Spotify, had the most successful first sales week since Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” in January 2017, and broke the UK’s record for most streams in a week. “30” comes just one week after Taylor Swift’s re-released album “Red (Taylor’s Version)”, another record-breaking album for a female vocalist. 

 

The conversation around the album has been circulating since her single release of “Easy on Me”. Adele also recently completed an interview with Oprah on the CBS special: “Adele One Night Only”. Her recent tv appearance has brought a lot of attention online including common themes of discussion like “Adele One Night Only”, “Adele Easy on Me”, “Love Adele”, “Oprah”, and “music”. This can also be seen in the word cloud for common terms of discussion:

Adele has been very open about her inspiration for “30” and the intimacy she has with the record saying, “This is my album.” The singer touches on struggling with mental illness, divorce, and parenting throughout the album. She has gotten rave reviews for her vocals and unique music. The album blends generations of musical style and emotional story-telling. This heartbreak album will take you on an emotional rollercoaster that you won’t want to get off. Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield claims this is Adele’s “most powerful album yet”, so grab some headphones and prepare for the ride. 

Staples Center Set to Receive an Unexpected Christmas Gift

November 17, 2021

The Los Angeles Lakers were set to play the Brooklyn Nets in the Staples Center on Christmas day; however, the arena is getting an unexpected name change. The game will now be taking place in Cryto.com Arena. Well renowned NBA Insider, Shams Charania, broke the news on Twitter late last night.

As well known as Shams is in the NBA community, the Staples Center is renowned not only in sports, but in American pop culture, as one of the most prestigious venues. The Staples Center is currently home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Sparks, and Kings. The Lakers have won six NBA championships in the building while the Sparks and Kings have added three WNBA and two NHL titles of their own. The Staples Center has also hosted 19 Grammy Awards ceremonies and memorials for the likes of Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant as well as hosting countless other concerts and public events.

The name change is corresponding with AEG’s new partnership with Crypto.com. The arena has been known as Staples Center for all 22 years of its existence. In 2009, Staples bought the naming rights to the arena in perpetuity, but AEG reacquired the naming rights in 2019. While the official details of the agreement have not been released, multiple reports suggest Cryto.com gave AEG $700 million reasons why they should change the name. If these reports are accurate, this is the largest naming rights deal for a stadium in American sports to date beating out Sofi’s $600 million deal to name Los Angeles’ new football stadium. More details on the agreement can be found on AEG’s website.

This is not the first venture Crypto.com has made into the sports world as they have recently struck deals with Formula One, the UFC, Italy’s Serie A, Paris St-Germain, and the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. They also purchased the uniform sponsor patch for the 76ers, Philadelphia’s NBA team.

When asked after his game last night, Paul George of the LA Clippers admitted that the name change would be weird.

Paul George isn’t alone. Many sports fans rushed to social media after the news broke. In less than 12 hours, the search term “Staples Center” has amassed nearly 107,000 mentions across social media platforms. Not so shockingly, 63.7% of these posts have scored a negative sentiment as fans express their shock and disdain for the name change.

Using Sprinklr’s sentiment analysis, we can take a look at some of the top words in these negative mentions. Along with a few expletives, we see words such as worst, bad, hate, and stupid as well as the acronyms smh and wtf. It’s pretty clear that fans aren’t vibing with the new name.

Here are some of the fans’ stances on the name change.

https://twitter.com/AdrienneLaw/status/1460844782826098690

Crypto.com may have their name on the arena starting on December 25, but I doubt many LA fans will ever refer to the stadium as anything other than Staples Center.

Author: Jacob Luksik

Taylor Swift Releases ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’

November 15, 2021

Swifties everywhere have been awaiting this day for quite some time, time, time. On Nov. 12, Taylor Swift released her second re-recorded album, Red (Taylor’s Version). The re-recording of Swift’s fourth studio album includes all of the original Red tracks, plus a 10-minute version of “All Too Well” and six additional unreleased tracks featuring artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Ed Sheeran, and Chris Stapleton. The release of Red (Taylor’s Version) was accompanied by an online release of the short film All Too Well, written and directed by Swift and starring Dylan O’Brien and Sadie Sink.

At only 14 years old, the American singer-songwriter signed a 13-year contract with Big Machine Records as their first recording artist. The contract gave Big Machine ownership of the masters to Swift’s first six studio albums. After her contract with Big Machine ended, Swift announced her plan to re-record her first six albums to create new masters, giving her complete ownership of her music. The highly publicized controversy surrounding Swift’s masters sparked a discourse on intellectual property and musicians’ rights in the industry.

“It’s really inspiring for me and a lot of musicians. I think a lot of people make a couple of records [and are] like, ‘oh wow, I hit the top, I’m great now,'” said singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers in an interview with Billboard.

Red (Taylor’s Version) is the second re-recorded album Swift has released. On April 9, 2021, Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), the re-recording of her second studio album. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) received critical acclaim and became the first ever re-recorded album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart and became the best-selling album released in 2021.

What has the conversation been like on social media? At the Social Media Listening Center, we used a search for keywords “Taylor Swift” and “Red,” “Red TV,” “Red (Taylor’s Version),” and “#ItsRedSeason.” The term “Taylor Swift” has been widely used and is not specific enough to be included in the search. While this search may not be fully extensive, it provides a glimpse into the online conversation.

On the day leading up to the album’s release, the search found more than 293,500+ tweets discussing this topic. By Nov. 12 at 11:59 pm, the search found 787,007 mentions across all platforms. The overall sentiment of the search was 61.9% positive and 38.1% negative. 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 the 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 #redtaylorsversion, #itsredseason, #taylorswift, and #alltoowelltenminuteversion are at the top. When searching the keywords “Taylor Swift” and “Red,” we found that some of the top themes of discussion the day the album was released were “Taylor’s Version,” “All Too Well,” and “Jake Gyllenhaal.”

“Jake Gyllenhaal” being a top theme of discussion is in reference to Swift’s wildly popular song “All Too Well,” which is rumored to be about Swift’s relationship with Gyllenhaal in 2010. At the time the two dated, Swift was 19 and Gyllenhaal was 32. Swift’s newly released lyrics about her age gap with Gyllenhaal has led to both criticism of the actor from Swift’s fanbase and some viral tweets.

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 pop culture publications such as The Rolling Stone and Billboard. Plus, Swift herself has been an active voice in the conversation.

The keyword search also revealed that Reddit users are engaging in r/Popheads and r/TaylorSwift. The megathread on r/Popheads discussing Red (Taylor’s Version) received 600+ upvotes and 1.5k+ comments. The comments contained statements of praise for the re-recording and the new, refined sound.

The volume trend of this conversation has slowly declined since the album was released. However, Swift announced a surprise music video  yesterday via Instagram that will be released today at 10 am, so the online conversation is likely far from over. In the meantime, we’ll be streaming the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” on repeat from the Social Media Listening Center.

Author: Kendall Phillips

A Week of Heros

November 13, 2021

President Joe Biden pauses during a wreath laying ceremony to commemorate Veterans Day and mark the centennial anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Veterans Day is celebrated annually on November 11 and is dedicated to those who have fought for the U.S. Veterans from all wars are celebrated for their patriotism and sacrifice. Over the last week Veterans, Day has gotten 1, 047,000 mentions peaking at 728,425 on Thursday. Words such as “veterans”, “happy”, “military”, “country”, “served”, “service”, “today” and “honor” were all frequent in online discussion. #veteransday was also the most popular hashtag used with 98, 252 hits.

However, this holiday is unlike those of previous years, because Thursday marked the first time in 20 years that the U.S. was not at war on Veterans Day. President Joe Biden acknowledged this in his address at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans and Medal of Honor recipients. This week also marks the tomb’s centennial since its inception on Nov. 11, 1921, where for the first time members of the public were allowed to come close to the grave and pay their respects and lay flowers. 

Prior to this Thursday’s Veterans Day events, President Biden announced a new military and veteran suicide prevention strategy and a series of new support options for veterans who had been exposed to “toxic” burn pits while serving. In addition to Biden’s remarks, Vice President Kamala Harris also participated in Veterans Day while visiting the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial outside of Paris. Harris and her husband both took part in the wreath-laying ceremony in honor of Armistice Day and the U.S. Veteran’s Day.

Among some of the top themes in the conversation were Remembrance Day, Happy Veterans Day, Veteran’s Day, November 11, and Air Force. Another theme that came up was, Indigenious Veterans, when taking a closer look at this unique theme, the majority of discussion is located around Canada. Indigenious Veterans Day or National Aboriginal Veterans Day is a Canadian holiday celebrated on Nov. 8 to honor aboriginal contributions to military service.

This week has marked many celebrations of service and sacrifice across the world, ensuring that we all remember those who dedicate their lives to fighting for what they believe. 

Eight Dead, Hundreds Injured At Travis Scott’s Astroworld Concert

November 10, 2021

Trigger warning. Videos and social media posts in this article include scenes of violence, drug use, and harsh language.  

Over 50,000 fans were packed in ready to see rapper Travis Scott perform at his Astroworld Festival in Houston on Friday. What began as a normal concert quickly turned into a tragic event. During the show, a crowd rush occurred resulting in the death of eight people and injuries to hundreds of others. The descriptions of the scene are daunting.

An account in the New York Times described the event. “Some collapsed. Others fought for air. Concertgoers lifted up the unconscious bodies of friends and strangers and surfed them over the top of the crowd, hoping to send them to safety. Others shouted out for help with CPR and pleaded for the concert to stop.”

A video has surfaced of a fan trying to get the attention of a camera operator. The fan is visibly distraught and calling for help. Instead of being met with the help he was looking for, other fans berated him as the concert goes on. The interaction can be seen below. (NSFW)

[deleted by user]
by intravisscott

Another concerning video has surfaced as Travis Scott can be seen urging fans to put their middle fingers to the sky as emergency personnel entered the venue. (NSFW)

The concert continued for roughly half an hour after city officials said the “mass casualty event” had begun. Houston police chief, Troy Finner, said they were concerned that shutting down the venue would cause more riots, escalating the situation. Reports suggest that security and emergency personnel did not have adequate communication channels in place with the venue staff. As fans began to fill the arena, cell service became near non-existent.

Madeline Eskins, an intensive care unit nurse attending the concert, describes a scene where the event’s medical staff appeared unprepared and overwhelmed in a New York Times report. “She said she was taken to an area where three people were laid on the ground, all receiving CPR. Some of the medical workers did not appear to know how to check a pulse or properly conduct chest compressions, she said. “They looked terrified,” she said.”

Investigators are looking to determine the cause of death of all the victims. Along with the crowd surge, there is speculation that laced, counterfeit drugs may have accounted for some of the deaths. Officials state it may take weeks for the toxicology reports to shed more light on the situation. Videos have surfaced of one fan appearing to have a seizure.

At least 18 lawsuits have been filed since the event. Live Nation Entertainment, the event’s organizer, has been named as a defendant in all but one of the suits along with Travis Scott being named in most of the suits. Drake, who was a guest performer at the concert, has been named in at least one of the suits. Travis Scott and Drake have since posted on social media addressing the event.

https://twitter.com/XXL/status/1457157189018193924

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWCr3ydlVVA/

Travis Scott and Drake were not the only ones to take to social media. Since the event, keywords “Travis Scott” and “Astroworld” have been mentioned almost 2.5 million times across social media channels. The vast majority of the posts, 89.7%, hold a negative sentiment. Posts consist of jarring scenes of the event, but most posts are calling out the rapper for how he handled the situation, how this is becoming a pattern at his shows, and calling him out for poorly thought out relief efforts for the victims.

Videos across social media show the insanity that occurred during the concert.

https://twitter.com/DexterL07617514/status/1456933595956662272

Multiple users point out that Travis Scott has a history of encouraging rages at his show and glorifying violent behavior.

https://twitter.com/Emerald_Prncs/status/1457918595330191364

Users are quick to judge Travis Scott on his poorly planned relief effort for victims of the show claiming the rapper is taking advantage of a tragedy by signing a partnership with Better Help.

Others are in shock how Travis could go out after the show unaware of what had just occurred.

Travis Scott has informed local authorities that he will be fully cooperative in their ongoing investigations regarding this tragic event, and that he is keeping the victims and their families in his thoughts and prayers.

Author: Jacob Luksik

Biden Administration Sets a Jan. 4 Vaccination Deadline for 100 Million Workers

November 8, 2021

On Thursday, Nov. 4, the Biden Administration officially rolled out two different vaccine rules that cover 100 million private sector workers. The first rule, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), states that companies with 100 or more employees must ensure that their employees are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4. If employees do not get vaccinated by this deadline, they will be required to test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week.

Under the OSHA rule, employers must pay workers for the time off taken to receive the vaccine as well as sick leave for employees who experience side effects. To encourage employees to choose vaccinations over weekly testing, the rule also states that employers are not required to pay for weekly testing. However, agreements with unions may require employers to pay. Unvaccinated employees are also required to wear face coverings at work.

Companies that fail to comply with the OSHA rule may be subject to serious fines. Some major companies have already mandated vaccines, including 3M, IBM, Procter & Gamble, and others. However, other companies have been more hestitant to issue mandates and have been waiting for government clarification on a number of questions.

We know what the experts are saying, but what has the conversation been like on social media? At the Social Media Listening Center, we used a keyword search for “OSHA” and “Vaccinated,” “OSHA” and “Biden Administration,” and “OSHA.” The term “Biden Administration” has been widely used and is not specific enough to be included in the search. While this search may not be fully extensive, it provides a glimpse into the online conversation.

On Nov. 4 when the news was announced, the search found 250,000+ mentions discussing this topic. By Nov. 6 at 11:59 pm, the search found 329,646 mentions across all platforms. The overall sentiment of the search was 8% positive and 92% negative. 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 the news, we looked at the most commonly used hashtags related to the search. We found that #donotcomply, #osha, #nosha, and #texas were at the top. The hashtag #donotcomply is widely being used in opposition to mask and vaccine mandates. When searching the keyword “OSHA,” we found that some of the top themes of discussion were “Vaccine Mandate,” “Employees,” “Rule,” and “Companies.”

Who exactly is engaging in this conversation? It appears that the majority of mentions surrounding this topic are from male Twitter users in the 18-35 age demographic in the United States. The top influencers on Twitter are primarily news outlets, including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and ABC News. Other influencers include journalists and political commentators such as Shannon Bream, Charlie Kirk, and Ben Shapiro.

The keyword search also revealed that Reddit users are engaging in the subreddits r/Conspiracy and r/Conservative. One of the most popular posts in r/Conservative linked to the official rule by the OSHA on www.federalregister.gov and received 1.2K+ upvotes and 460 comments. The comments contained statements criticizing the rule and the Biden Administration. “Pointing a gun at people’s head provides motivation to do just about anything. Doesn’t make it right,” commented one user.

The volume trend of the conversation has steadily declined since the news was announced. However, this conversation is certainly not over. The vaccine mandate for larger businesses was recently halted by federal appeals court and at least 27 states have filed lawsuits challenging the rule. We’ll have to wait and see what happens with the litigation surrounding the mandate in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, we’ll continue monitoring this topic and others from the Social Media Listening Center.

Author: Kendall Phillips

26 Years in the Making: The Braves Win the World Series

November 5, 2021

The Atlanta Braves have won the World Series for the first time since 1995. They won in a 7-0 victory over the Houston Astros in the 6th game of the series on November 3rd. The Braves led the series 3-2 going into game six. Between Oct. 28-Nov. 4 the  “Braves” keyword got over 1, 658, 000 mentions online. The most popular hashtags used have been #worldseries, #battleatl, and #braves. Overall there was a majority positive sentiment at 68.8%. Major terms associated with the “Braves” were @braves (the team’s official username), series, Astro, game, #worldseries, #battleatl, and win. 

Jorge Soler after hitting his three-run go-ahead homer in the third inning of Game 6.

 

Jorge Soler was named World Series MVP after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning. Soler’s hit put the Braves ahead 3-0, giving them the spark they needed to begin their scoring streak. During the series, Soler had an impressive record with a slugging percentage of .800, six RBIs, and three walks during the Series. He is the sixth player with three go-ahead homers in a single World Series and the third player to win MVP after starting the season with another team.

 

 

 

 

After major injuries this season, redesigning the outfield, and entering the postseason with the fewest wins of any playoff team, the Braves seemed an unlikely choice to be the World Series Champions. The team held the longest streak of all time without a title with 16 consecutive postseason appearances. However, for the players, staff, coaches, and fans of Atlanta, this has been an accomplishment they have been striving for quite some time.  The city itself hadn’t seen a professional sports league championship since 2018 when Atlanta United won the MLS Cup. And despite close calls, last year with the Braves loss to the Dodgers in the NLCS, the Hawks fumbling in the Eastern Conference finals, and the Falcons blowing a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl, Atlanta’s four major pro sports teams haven’t won a title since 1995. The team immediately began posting on social media postgame with news about the win and celebrations. (They already have the parade planned.) Proud victors the Braves official Twitter bio reads: “Tweets from the 2021 World Series Champions. #BattleATL”. 

Although there were setbacks earlier in the year, Atlanta local Dansby Swanson had faith that the Braves would see that championship title. Swanson hit a two-run homer in the 5 innings to stretch the Braves lead to 6-0 and fielded the last ground ball of the 2021 World Series to help clinch the victory for his team. From starting the postseason as the underdogs, the Atlanta Braves have managed to overcome many setbacks and ultimately come out on top with the World Series title. And who doesn’t love an underdog story? 

Raiders Wide Receiver Charged With DUI After Fatal Car Crash

November 3, 2021

Henry Ruggs III has been charged with DUI causing death and reckless driving after causing a wreck on the Las Vegas strip. The incident occurred at approximately 3:39 Las Vegas time on Tuesday morning. Ruggs, who officers believe was impaired at the time of the accident, was driving at “high speeds” when he swerved and hit another vehicle. By the time help arrived at the scene, the victim’s car was on fire, and she along with her dog were announced dead at the scene. The deceased driver has not been identified at this time.

Ruggs was not alone in his car as passenger Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington was taken to the hospital with serious injuries that do not appear life-threatening according to local police. Ruggs was taken to the hospital and was later transferred and booked at Clark County Detention Center.

Ruggs’ attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, have asked “everyone to reserve judgment until all the facts are gathered,” but it may be too late for that.

Since news of the crash broke Tuesday morning, there have already been over 131,000 mentions of Ruggs across social media. Of these mentions, 91.4% were scored with negative sentiment. People have not reserved their judgement, and they are not holding back on the former first round pick.

Many of the tweets call out Ruggs, or anyone for that matter, for driving drunk and how it is unacceptable in today’s times especially with access to rides from companies such as Uber or Lyft. Many of these tweets are NSFW as people take strong stands on the issue.

Other users are focused on the victim involved in this tragic incident.

In ESPN’s article regarding the incident, they reported that “Ruggs lost a childhood friend, Rod Scott, in a car accident in 2016, and Ruggs pays tribute to him by putting up three fingers — Scott wore No. 3 — to the sky after big plays.” Social media users are keying in on this and are baffled how someone so close to this issue would still get behind the wheel while intoxicated.

https://twitter.com/fattestmallon/status/1455595573503873039

Ruggs is set to appear in court at noon eastern time today. Despite the fact that the case is still under investigation, the Las Vegas Raiders acted hastily in their decision to release Ruggs.

Furthermore, one twitter user has said his name has been removed from the locker room, and all of his merchandise has already been removed from the team store.

https://twitter.com/IsaacEbrom/status/1455673863128313856

If found guilty, Ruggs faces 2-20 years in prison with no parole. Local personal injury attorney, Matt Hoffmann, believes Ruggs’ career is over. Along with time in prison, Hoffmann suggests Ruggs will lose his license and face civil suits that have the potential to bankrupt the former NFL receiver. Hoffmann added that everyone deserves due process, and that this case may take a very long time to settle.

Author: Jacob Luksik

Men Shot by Kyle Rittenhouse Cannot be Called ‘Victims’ in Court, Judge Rules

November 1, 2021

On Aug. 25, 2020, 17-year-old Illinois resident Kyle Rittenhouse walked among protesters supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and fatally shot two people with a semi-automatic rifle. He was arrested the following day in his hometown and was charged with multiple felonies, including first-degree intentional homicide, posession of a dangerous weapon while under the age of 18, and reckless endangerment. Rittenhouse told sources that he was there to protect local businesses, despite no indication that he was asked to guard the site.

Rittenhouse’s legal team attended a pre-trial hearing with prosecutors to review outstanding issues before the trial begins on Nov. 1. During the pre-trial, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder determined that the people shot by Rittenhouse may be called ‘rioters’ or ‘looters’ but that attorneys should not use the word ‘victim.’

“Let the evidence show what the evidence shows, that any or one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting or looting, then I’m not going to tell the defense they can’t call them that,” said Judge Schroeder.

What has the conversation been like on social media? At the Social Media Listening Center, we used a keyword search for “Kyle Rittenhouse” and “Trial,” “Kyle Rittenhouse” and “Victim,” and “Kyle Rittenhouse.” While this search may not be fully extensive, it provides a glimpse into the online conversation.

In the first 24 hours after the news was announced, the search found more than 261,000 tweets discussing this topic. Unsurprisingly, the overall sentiment of this search was 95.9% negative and 4.1% positive. However,  it is difficult to gauge audience sentiment from sentiment analysis alone when discussing serious issues such as homicide. 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 the search. We found that #kylerittenhouse, #removejudgeschroeder, and #antifa were at the top. When searching the keyword “Kyle Rittenhouse,” we found that some of the top themes of discussion were “Shooting People,” “Murderer,” “Self Defense,” and “Victims.”

Who exactly is engaging in this conversation? It appears that the majority of mentions surrounding this topic are from male Twitter users in the 18-35 age demographic in the United States. The top influencers on Twitter are primarily news outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News. Other influencers include news reporters and columnists such as Haley Willis from The New York Times and Will Bunch from The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The keyword search also revealed that Reddit users are engaging in the subreddits r/Politics, r/NotTheOnion, and r/Libertarian. One of the most popular posts on r/Libertarian linked to an NPR article about the news and received 800+ upvotes and 1.5K+ comments. The comments contained numerous statements criticizing the article for being misleading. “It’s certainly a weird situation to us on the outside looking in, but the Judge’s requests are hardly nefarious if one reads beyond headlines,” commented one user.

The volume trend of this conversation has steadily declined since the news was announced. However, this conversation is likely far from over. We expect to hear more about this topic once the trial officially begins on Nov. 1. In the meantime, we’ll continue monitoring this topic and others from the Social Media Listening Center.

Author: Kendall Phillips