The News in New Media

Month: October 2022

President Biden Pardons Federal Simple Marijuana Possession Convictions

October 7, 2022

On Thursday October 6th, President Biden announced a pardon for all prior federal convictions of simple marijuana possession. This marks a step towards the potential decriminalization of marijuana. The decriminalization of marijuana was something President Biden was supportive of during his campaign for the presidency, making it one of his key promises. This decision is going to affect thousands of people currently incarcerated with these charges.

While this pardon order only has an impact on those who are charged on a federal level, President Biden urged local leaders to follow him in pardoning charges of simple marijuana possession on a state level. During his announcement of this pardon President Biden also called for an investigation into the classification of marijuana – saying it “makes no sense” as to why it’s treated as more serious offense than fentanyl.

In a video released by The White House, President Biden declares that “no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana”. He also makes note of the how having a marijuana related charge has an impact on multiple portions of ones life from housing to employment. President Biden also points out the disparities between incarceration rates of White and Black individuals when it comes simple possession charges, stating that Black Americans are disproportionately affected in terms of arrests and convictions.

This news happened within the last 24 hours and already has a massive reach online. The term “Biden Pardon” has over 118k mentions and has reached 1.8 billion users. The majority of users were males in the United States. These conversations were taking place on Twitter, shortly followed by Reddit. Many of the top influencers were news sources as CNN and BBC News, and of course, Joe Biden and The White House.

This news has clearly shocked audiences, with one of the top themes of discussion being, “OMG”. While the sentiments were split nearly 50/50, it seems the public is celebrating this landmark decision. Taking to their social media pages to share that they were happy to see progress being made towards the decriminalization of marijuana. Some users even taking the time to make a joke around the situation.

Not only did people describe their excitement surrounding this decision, users choice in emojis more subtly reflected the positive sentiment. The following is a compilation of the most used emojis within his keyword search.

While the discussions seem mostly positive, others were quick to point out that this pardon may not affect as many people as it’s being advertised. Though it will pardon any federal convictions of a simple marijuana possession, it will not alleviate other charges or assist those on the state level – which are where a lot of these charges are.

This decision is a historic one and the Social Media Listening Center will continue to follow conversations surrounding this topic and update you as necessary.

North Korea Fires Missile Over Japan as South Korea, U.S., Respond

October 5, 2022

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time since 2017, according to CNN. Though this was North Korea’s 23rd missile launch this year, it was the first directed to fly over their neighboring country – without warning – in five years.

Reports of the launch describe the missile flying 2,858 miles and reaching a top speed of Mach 17 before it landed in the Pacific Ocean. Usually, experts say, North Korean missile launches soar over the Korean Peninsula and into nearby waters rather than passing into Japanese territories. Per CNN, this could be considered an escalation or a threat simply because it’s “provocative to fire a missile over your neighbor.”

This long-range missile was last thought to be tested in January, and there are concerns about why the North Korean government is launching tests again now. Since Kim Jong Un took power, he vowed to strengthen the North Korean nuclear program and this year even said he wanted to move development ahead at the “highest possible” speed. This launch was the fifth within a week’s time span.

In turn, the United States and South Korea responded with their own joint strike package flight and conducted a precision bombing drill – though one of the South Korean missiles failed. Yet, some experts are concerned that shows of force like this, as well as other means of backlash to North Korea, are increasingly ineffective, even coming from united fronts. Sanctions from several nations may be the ultimate step to curbing North Korea’s behavior. The United States has now called an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the launches.

With the news breaking just over 24 hours ago, this situation is clearly ongoing and continuing to develop. Yet since the morning of October 4, there have been more than 74K mentions of the words “Japan” and “North Korea” together, reaching approximately 1.73 billion feeds. An overwhelming 85% of these were negative in sentiment.

Many of the themes of content speak to the uneasiness this launch created, with themes surrounding the words “warning,” “alert,” “news,” and “shelter.” Monetary concerns about the implications of the conflict are also prevalent, with some popular words in mentions including “market,” “data,” “forecasts,” and “industry trends.” CNN, The New York Times, BBC News, and other global news outlets are some of the most prominent names discussing this trend, which has the most traffic in the United States.

Social traffic itself is divided, as some conservative pundits are using the launch as an opportunity to promote partisan politics. A repeated mantra is that when Donald Trump was president, North Korea would never have done such a thing, especially launching directly at Japan:

However, this assertion is blatantly false, as North Korea did indeed launch a missile toward Japan in 2017, as many comments and replies point out.

Much of the rest of the top content shared is simple dissemination of news and updates rather than political discourse or arguments. Inevitably, most Western news about North Korea is biased and distorted, though it seems at this point the facts are still continuing to develop. Hopefully the next news surge will soon be telling us of de-escalation.

Author: Kayleigh Jackson

NFL Concussion Protocol Debate Explodes Over Social Media

October 3, 2022

Unsurprisingly, social media platforms exploded with remarks regarding NFL protocol on concussion safety following two dangerous hits that left a player seriously injured. Starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa, was hit twice in a way that left the NFL fanatics stunned.

The first hit occurred during their match-up against the Buffalo Bills on September 25, 2022. The video of the hit circulated on social media platforms and many users debated whether or not he was healthy enough to be let back onto the field.

However, after the second hit and video were shared, during the match-up against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 29, 2022, social media users sprinted to Twitter to express outrage and concern for their beloved NFL players.

The overwhelming majority of mentions recorded by Sprinklr Analytics were of negative sentiment. Within the week, over 12.4 billion reach was analyzed with 1.7 million mentions. Seventy percent of the sentiment was negative. This could come from negative reactions to the protocol, but, on the other hand, users were bickering with one another regarding the trust and intentions of doctors (which caused its own consequences).

The doctors affiliated were fired, coinciding with the social media outrage. Over 1.4 million of the mentions were recorded on Twitter’s platform, which acts as a conversational medium compared to other social media channels. After a quick search of the Miami Dolphins team, over eighty percent of the sentiment was negative.

Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III (RGIII) expressed his opinion on the concern over a fellow peer. RGIII has become an advocate for player safety and has gained a large following on social media following his retirement from the NFL!

On the bright side, Tua seemed to be in good spirits and the community is pulling for a quick recovery for the young, up-and-coming Miami Dolphins quarterback.

Author: Louisa Glazunova