The News in New Media

Author: janeths

Corona Virus Catch-Up

February 12, 2021

Authors: Taylor Summey, Katy Trawick & Janeth Sierra-Rivera

It has almost been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began ravaging the world. Many of us have adapted to a new way of life: social distancing, wearing masks and staying home rather than going out with friends. Though we have accepted this new reality, the discussion about COVID-19 certainly has not died down. 

Overall, the top keywords being discussed reflect this informational tone: 

 

A word cloud showing the top keywords in this conversation. 

Conversations on Twitter :

The worldwide conversation surrounding COVID-19 on Twitter has remained steadily high, with the post volume never dropping below 2,400,000. These conversations were at their lowest on February 4, with a total of 2,461,171 tweets. Unfortunately, due to the sheer size of the worldwide conversation, it is not possible to determine why this dropoff occurred or to glean any clear trends in conversation.

 

International Twitter post volume.

 

The top influencers were primarily non-American news outlets. One of the most interesting top-ten influencers in this conversation was @Anime, the Twitter account of the Anime News Network. Their posts are primarily links to their articles on topics pertaining to COVID-19’s impact on the anime industry. This account shares the top ten list with other outlets like ABC News (@ABC) and Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish).

A screenshot of a post from @Anime’s account.

In an attempt to gain a more detailed reading of the conversations taking place, the focus was shifted to South Carolina specifically. Some of the key themes used in the updated search included but were not limited to: 

  • information regarding vaccine dissemination
  • reports on the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state
  • and discussion of a new strain of the virus that has popped up in South Carolina. 

In fact, conversations spiked on Thursday, January 28th as the news reported information pertaining to the new strain. User responses expressed concern and frustration in terms of this new COVID-19 development. 

Conversations on Facebook: 

According to the available information, more than 166,000 posts about COVID-19 were shared on Facebook during this time frame. Many of the top posts come from international organizations, such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO),  that were attempting to spread factual information about the pandemic. The analysis conducted showed that posts such as these seem to have dominated the conversations taking place.

It is important to note that Vietnam was ranked as the top location for users posting to Facebook. Other prominent locations include the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Norway, and Singapore. While the United States did not make an appearance in the top locations for Facebook for this particular conversation.

 

Conversations on Instagram: 

Analysis on Instagram relied on the following hashtags to sample the conversations surrounding COVID-19. 

  1. #Covid – 14.9M posts 
  2. #Covid19 – 38.7M posts 
  3. # Covid19vaccine – 168K posts 

The conversations that followed the first two hashtags revolved around everyday life and changes that have taken place since the pandemic began. Posts included hobbies and activities to engage in during quarantine such as cooking and crafting, uplifting animal photos, and work and family life. The  #Covid19Vaccine conversation revolved around frontline workers posting pictures of them receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. 

Conversations on Reddit: 

The top three subreddits included: 

  1. r/Coronavirus/ 
  2. r/u_toronto_news/ 
  3. r/politics 

The overall discussion of the top posts on r/Coronavirus revolved around general updates and news articles related to Covid. The first top post was about the United States now has more vaccinated people than cases, while the second top story was about the fact that Kroger had to close two stores. The third top story was regarding the stimulus package that passed after Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote, and the fourth top story was about a child who woke from a coma and did not know about the pandemic. 

Group 1: 

Keywords: Covid-19 

  • There was a total of 212k mentions on Reddit related to COVID-19.
  • The most used keyword was “vaccine”. 
  • The highest day of COVID-19 conversation for Reddit was on the 28th.
  • The overall conversation on Reddit was neutral and discussing updates around vaccines and Covid. 

Group 2: 

Keywords: Covid-19 and at least one: vaccine, vaccines, covid, and Pfizer.

  • Posts total was still 212 K posts.

Ultimately, this search demonstrated an increase in posts that held debates about vaccines and mental health concerns due to quarantine and the pandemic. This conversation also brought up the debate that corresponded to the usefulness of masks and the Covid-19 vaccines, approximately 860 of them, that spoiled in a Vermont hospital.

Full Analysis

Purpose: To analyze some of the conversations surrounding COVID-19 that are taking place on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.

Analysis Time Frame: 

  • January 28 – February 4

Key Themes: 

  • News coverage dominates a major portion of the pandemic conversation.
  • Users are re-sharing informational resources about the virus. 
  • Locally, users discussing South Carolina are focusing on the vaccine, the death toll, and the new strain of COVID-19 that was recently identified in the state.
  • General updates surrounding the virus and receiving vaccines.
  • Life changes due to the pandemic. 

Overall Post Volume:

Over 27 million posts were made across all social media sites in the time frame this analysis examined. 

Overall social media sentiment surrounding COVID-19: 

  • Neutral: 67% 
  • Negative: 13% 
  • Positive: 8% 
  • Not Rated: 10% 

This analysis indicates that the majority of posts were neither particularly negative or positive, but that there was a higher negative sentiment to be found with these conversations. 

Top Influencers: 

The top news influencers are: 

  • @aajtak
  • @ABC
  • @ABPNews
  • @AlArabiya_Eng
  • @AJEnglish

The top Twitter influencers besides news sources are: 

  • @BillGates: he has been posting a lot about the pandemic sharing his thoughts on it and the lessons learned.
  • @JoeBiden: President Biden has been posting information about rescue plans (The American Rescue Plan) with regards to people losing their homes, during the pandemic.
  • @NFL: Some posts were found discussing CDC guidelines regarding Covid-19 and the lead up to the Super Bowl.

 

The #impeachment Continues

February 10, 2021

Authors: Marika Thwin, Madysun Green & Janeth Sierra-Rivera

The drama in Washington D.C. continues this week as former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is wrapping up. Between the dates of Jan. 30 and Feb 6, 2021, there were almost 3 million total mentions of the impeachment across all types of media – with posts reaching a total of 745 million users and holding 18.8 billion impressions on Twitter alone.

The charts below demonstrate overall volume trends in which Jan. 30, Feb. 2, and Feb. 4 held the highest post volume throughout the week.

 

Some of the developments that occurred on those days included: 

  • News reports revealed that five of Trump’s impeachment lawyers had left his legal team due to disputes regarding legal strategy. 
  • House impeachment lawyers accused Trump of inciting violence against Congress: Although Trump’s legal team states that the Senate cannot convict him because he is no longer in office, the Senate argues against this because Trump was charged while he was still in office. Democrats may subpoena Trump to testify in the trial if he refuses the testimony request. 
  • Senators gave speeches on their impeachment votes.

Whether users tweeted about their support for former President Trump or their disapproval of him and his actions, the messages all contained negative connotations which resulted in a 90% negative sentiment across social media. The top posts from Twitter were divided between impeachment supporters and non-supporters, but similar language was used between the two groups:

Over the course of the week, there was also a lot of conversation around US Representative Liz Cheney, who was censored by the Wyoming Republican Party because she voted to impeach former President Trump. Several of the overall top keywords surrounding the impeachment involved “Wyoming and Cheney,” more so than any other topic. Even actor George Takei chimed in with something to say about it: 

Other Media Outlets:

While Twitter analysis displayed a greater amount of online engagement surrounding Trump’s impeachment, Facebook accumulated 45.k mentions, of which more users were against the impeachment than those who were in favor of it. On a somewhat different but relevant note, CBS News released an article about Carbon Dioxide emissions in the US which had nothing to do with the impeachment but garnered comments reading: “Impeach Biden, Harris, and Pelosi” demonstrating the overall breadth of the current political environment.  

The conversation continued onto Reddit as posts averaged to 783 posts per day, with a total of 6.27k total mentions. While the platform is known for its subreddits and the discussion of everything under the sun, but the topic of President Trump and his impeachment topped all of the “political” subreddit groups. Many of these discussions focused on the votes of the impeachment trial, with a particular emphasis on the results of who voted for what outcome and the surprise from the Republican Members of Congress that voted against the president. Although overall the emotional aspects from the posts were anger centralized, the overall sentiment held at 81% neutral, while only 2% was positive. 

 

Instagram had over 790k total posts using the hashtag “#impeachtrump”. However, it is important to note that many of these posts were memes, focused on the discussion of the votes from House-members, or among the few accounts that delivered critical content like quotes from the House Impeachment Managers.

 

Full Analysis

Purpose: To analyze the thoughts and sentiments surrounding the impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump on social media.

Analysis Time Frame: January 30 – February 6, 2021

Keyword group: 

  • Donald Trump
  • “Wyoming and Cheney”

Popular Hashtags:

  • #impeachtrump

Trends in Conversation:

  • Conversations surrounding the manner in which the Members of Congress voted.
  • Active engagement from both those who are in favor of the impeachment and those who oppose it.

Sentiment:

  • Donald Trump and his impeachment trial have encountered differing sentiments across various social media platforms however, there is an overall 90% negative sentiment across social media
    • Twitter – was divided between impeachment supporters and non-supporters.
    • Facebook – users were more vocal about their opposition to the impeachment than those who were in favor of it.
    • Reddit – the overall sentiment held at 81% neutral, while only 2% was positive.

Remembering Kobe and Gianna Bryant

February 4, 2021

Lost But Never Forgotten.

Authors: Brennan Schmidt & Janeth Sierra-Rivera

Whether it be yelling out “Kobe!” as trash is being thrown into a nearby trash can or having followed his incredible basketball career and knowing all of his NBA achievements, the name “Kobe Bryant” has become a well-known name to all those who know a thing or two about sports.  As a result, the world was shocked when they learned that retired NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, 41 years old at the time, had lost his life in a helicopter accident in Southern California on the morning of Jan. 26, 2020. During this time Bryant was accompanied by his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, and Ara Zobayan, who were also all killed upon impact.

“LEGENDS ARE FOREVER” mural in Downtown Los Angeles 

On the one year anniversary of Kobe and Gianna’s death, also referred to as the 2020 Calabasas Helicopter Crash, social media was flooded with thoughtful messages, tributes, and support for their surviving family: Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka, and Capri Bryant.

Between the dates of Jan. 24, 2021 – Jan. 28, 2021, there were over 1.4 million mentions of the keywords “Kobe”, “Kobe Bryant”, “Black Mamba”, “Gianna”, “Gianna Bryant”, or “Gigi” – with the peak of almost 1 million mentions taking place on the anniversary of the crash, Tuesday, Jan. 26. 

 

Many of the posts made honored Kobe and Gianna Bryant, as well as the lives of the other victims, and demonstrated grievance for their sudden deaths.

However, there were those who held a differing point of view in regards to the remembrance of late basketball star. One account tweeted about the manner in which many “hype” the death of Black people while they disregard the deaths of white people. Meanwhile, another account tweeted about a rape case against Bryant and how his lawyers were trying to cover it up:

https://twitter.com/aryangoddess_/status/1354093080190840832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1354093080190840832%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Faryangoddess_2Fstatus2F1354093080190840832widget%3DTweet

https://twitter.com/shroudeaters/status/1353126746543984640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1353126746543984640%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fshroudeaters2Fstatus2F1353126746543984640widget%3DTweet

While these tweets all demonstrate a varied array of emotion, audience engagement on the one-year anniversary of the tragic helicopter accident shows that social media users continue to be profoundly impacted by this sudden and tragic loss. It is clear that the memories of Kobe, Gianna, and the other victims will live on in the hearts and minds of people across the country. #MambaForever

Full Analysis:

Purpose: 

  • To analyze social media users’ thoughts and sentiments surrounding the one-year anniversary of the death of retired NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.

Analysis Time Frame:

  • This social media analysis was conducted using a January 24 – 28 2021 timeframe.

Overall Trends:

  • Overall mentions were low two days prior to and two days after the anniversary of the crash, with approximately 41 K mentions on Jan. 24 & Jan. 28.
  • There were between 165 K – 158 K mentions on Jan. 25 & Jan. 27.
  • The highest number occurred on Jan. 26 with 988 K total mentions.
  • The top hashtag surrounding this event was #mambaforever

Sentiment:

  • The overall social media sentiment was 71% neutral, 15 % negative, and 8% positive.
    • However, the social media responses demonstrate that users had nice things to say about Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and the other lives lost as a result of the helicopter accident.
  • While there were some negative comments made about the character of Kobe Bryant, fans quickly responded to honor his death and preserve his legacy.

Popular Keywords:

  • Surprisingly, the top keywords used did not include the names “Kobe Bryant” or “Gianna Bryant.” Instead, the top keywords that honored their memory were “legend”, “legacy”, “rest in peace”, and “daughter”. 

WandaVision: Visually Enticing but Completely Confusing

January 29, 2021

Authors: Amy Mackin & Janeth Sierra-Rivera

Among many other things, the year 2020 marked the first year without a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film in over a decade. So it came as no surprise that Marvel fans were excited for the new Disney+ (pronounced Disney Plus) mini-series, “WandaVision.” 

The series is based on well-known characters Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch, and Vision, an android in a synthetic body, who were first introduced to the MCU in “Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015). In the series, Wanda and Vision are seen living idealized suburban lives in the town of Westview, however, they quickly begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems. 

The first two episodes of the Marvel Studios original series were made available on Jan. 15, 2021 – with new episodes released every ensuing Friday. However, despite great anticipation, “WandaVision” has generated mixed reviews. 

The show has received generally positive criticism from critics, having earned a score of 7.5/10 on IMDb, a 94 % on Rotten Tomatoes, and is referred to as “a wonderfully weird and strikingly bold step into the small screen of the MCU (Marvel Cinema Universe).” (Source: Rotten Tomatoes). However, others quickly took to social media to share their own opinions:

In addition, analysis of popular video-sharing social networking service TikTok demonstrates that

#wandavision has 163.4M views, although most videos using this hashtag seem to explain the ending of episode three, theories,

and the overall premise of the show.

  • Top TikTok posts during the Jan. 15 – 22 time frame:
    • The first top TikTok video is that of @mataya04petrea, with a total of 609.7K views, in which she says that she refuses to accept the fact that Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff) is related to the Olsen twins.
    • The second top TikTok video is that of @_aanasper, with a total of 431.3K views, in which she expresses her confusion and theory regarding certain color symbolism within the show.

Full Analysis:

Purpose:

To analyze the social media conversations about “WandaVision” and determine whether those conversations had changed between the two air dates.

Analysis Time Frame:

This social media analysis was conducted using a Jan. 15 – 22 time frame.

Overall Trends:

  • Between the dates of Jan. 15 to Jan. 22, “WandaVision” generated approximately 184,000 social media posts, with the highest volume of posts (68,279) taking place on Jan. 15 and the second-highest (47,151) taking place on Jan. 22.

  • On both of these days, some users shared their love for the show, the characters, and their excitement for what’s to come, other users shared their confusion over what happened in the released episodes.

Top Tweets Included:

 

Trending Hashtags:

The top trending hashtag was #wandavision with 121,840 total mentions on social media. Most posts associated with the hashtag were advertisements regarding the release of the show and viewers’ opinions of the show. The second most used hashtag was #disneyplus with a total of  8,871 mentions.

Top Words:

The words #wandavision, wandavision, and “wanda” and “episode” were among the most popular words used to generate conversation about the show. These conversations included Easter eggs (hidden messages, images, or features within visual media), spoilers, theories, and other information regarding the show itself.

Sentiment:

  • “WandaVision” has generated a neutral sentiment of 40.4%, a positive sentiment of 37.8%, a negative sentiment of 21.7%.
    • Neutral sentiment revolves around people tweeting when the release of an episode occurs, people asking for the opinions of the show, and theories/spoiler discussion.
    • Positive sentiment is focused on the excitement surrounding the series, the enjoyment of the show (particularly that it is interesting), and a love for the characters.
    • Negative sentiment is based on the audience’s confusion of the series, and that people do not understand the show.
  • All this data suggests that more users seem to generally be enjoying the series and are excited for what is to come, but that there are still many viewers who are disappointed in the show, outright confused or a combination of the two.

Follow-up Conversations: 

While some say that only true Marvel fans can understand the complexities of “WandaVision,” some say that going back and re-watching “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is necessary. What are your thoughts on this? And if you have watched “WandaVision”, what is your opinion on the mini-series itself?

Insurrection at the Capitol

January 25, 2021

A Twitter analysis of the attack on the U.S. Capitol

Authors: Noah Britt & Janeth Sierra-Rivera

The United States Capitol has become a recognizable symbol of democracy, both nationally and internationally, because the building itself represents liberty and the ideals of freedom as expressed in the United States Constitution. As a result, the building has been viewed with near-sacrality and remained free from any major attack for over 200 years – when parts of the Capitol were burned by British troops in 1814 during the War of 1812.

However, that all changed on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of U.S. President Donald J. Trump stormed the Capitol building as Congress met to certify the results of November’s presidential election which declared Joseph R. Biden the President-elect. Within minutes of the attack, images began to circulate across the web exhibiting the rioters as they stormed through the halls of the building, sat at the desks of Congress members, and yelled from the Senate chamber podium. 

The charts below demonstrate the volume at which tweets increased as protestors stormed the Capitol. 

 

More than 100,000 tweets took place between the hours of 4 -5 pm that day, however, they slowly declined throughout the evening.

President Donald Trump was at the center of the conversation, as a majority of the rioters set their sights on the Capitol after a rally held by President Trump earlier in the day.

The network graph below shows the widespread sentiment of the riots:

Chart Analysis:

  • The color red represents an overall negative sentiment, while blue represents an overall positive sentiment, and gray represents an overall neutral sentiment. 
  • The position of each bubble within the graph is based on how related the users or the hashtags were to one another.
  • The size of each user and hashtag was determined by the overall tweet popularity.

The analysis shows that President Trump was largely blamed for this attack and his actions resulted in Twitter placing a temporary, now permanent, suspension on his @realDonaldTrump account. 

Although his name has been affiliated with the deadly insurrection, President Trump has remained insulated from most tweets regarding white privilege. This ultimately serves as an important observation because many of these conversations surrounding the topic of “white privilege” have drawn comparisons between the treatment of the Capitol Hill rioters and the Black Lives Matter activists during the racial justice protests that swept the nation over the last year.

According to Twitter, the riots seem to have actually had the opposite effect that its supporters desired.

As shown below, #stopthesteal tweets experienced a spike the day of the riot but overall tweet volume for the popular hashtag plummeted after the riot, indicating that many users were breaking with the movement that alleged fraud in the presidential election this past November. 

Nonetheless, the most common hashtag for Trump supporters, #MAGA, has remained at pre-riot levels, indicating that, though many Twitter users still support President Trump, they no longer support the movement to overturn the results of the election.

Full Analysis: 

Purpose: 

To analyze the thoughts and sentiments of the Twitter conversations surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Analysis Time Frame: 

January 6, 2021

Trends in Conversation:

  • A majority of the hashtags examined in this analysis experienced a peak at approximately 4 pm.
  • Various hashtags associated with President Trump are closely linked with the attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

Trending Hashtags: 

The conversations surrounding this unprecedented event were most notable on Twitter, where solely on Jan. 6 there were more than 732,000 tweets containing any of the following keywords:

  • #capitolhill 
  •  #dcprotest(s) 
  •  #insurrection
  •  #maga
  •  #riot(s) 
  •  #stopthesteal
  •  #stormthecapitol
  •  #trump

Sentiment:

Overall, 78 % of tweets surrounding the incident were tagged for having a negative sentiment.