The News in New Media

What do Vincent van Gogh, Friends, and ice cream all have in common? They all have some form of immersive experience modeled after them to capitalize on the craze of taking audiences and placing them into their respective worlds, whatever that might look like. Recently, one new immersive experience started make rounds on social media but for all the wrong reasons. In Glasgow, Scotland, a company known as “House of Illuminati” advertised their new immersive experience called “Willy’s Chocolate Experience,” an unlicensed event aimed at capitalizing on the Willy Wonka IP. What was advertised as a magical and candy filled experience turned out to be much less according to some attendees on social media, and the immersive experience quickly became a viral meme.

Most social media users have been referring to the event as the “Willy Wonka Experience” which has been mentioned almost 500 thousand times since February 22^nd, just days before the event which took place the weekend of February 24^th. Further, this topic has reached almost 2 billion users across social media with the most prominent platform being X which is where the jokes and memes really took off followed by Reddit which is where the story first started gaining traction on the day of the event. Relevant conversations continued to increase the during the following week and peaked on February 29^th with over 17 thousand mentions. Sprinklr rates the sentiment of these conversations at about 61% negative and 39% positive which makes sense as many users took to speaking on how poorly the experience was executed while simultaneously making fun of it. Top themes of discussion include “AI Art,” which describes how all of the promotional material for the experience was created, “kids with the Krabby Land,” a reference to a joke from SpongeBob SquarePants, and “bad people called the cops Lmao,” which is a line from one viral post that noted the experience was so poorly received that attendees called the police to the scene.

While the “immersive” experience took place in Scotland, the United Kingdom was the second most vocal country in the social media discussions on the topic at just over 31 thousand mentions behind the United States which had just over 71 thousand mentions. American accounts began to circulate more and more pictures from the experience to crack jokes at just how underwhelming it turned out to be as well as mixing it with other recently popular memes.

Influencers in the discussions include some pop culture and news outlet accounts such as Culture Crave and The Guardian as well as other various influencers whose tweets have been sampled above.

What this story shows is that viral moments can come from anywhere. The AI generated advertisements for the experience raised little to no eyebrows across social media prior to the event taking place, but once Redditors began sharing the story and users on X got ahold of it, it blew up to a now canon social media meme. From the sad Oompa Loompa to the AI created villain “The Unknown,” this story is likely to linger in social media users’ minds for years to come simply because it was just so ridiculous and unexpected. 

Author: Ben Katarzynski

The news of Laken Riley’s untimely death on the University of Georgia’s (UGA) campus has sparked substantial conversations surrounding collegiate student safety, immigration policies, and university policies. On February 22nd, 2024, Riley was found dead near the Campus’s Intramural Fields in a wooded area by Lake Herrick. The murder suspect was identified as Jose Antonio Ibarra, who faced state charges for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another. Ibarra has since been convicted.

UGA campus police responded to the scene around 12:20 PM following a call from a close friend of Riley’s when she reportedly did not return from her morning run. She was located shortly after and pronounced dead at the scene. 

A graduate of UGA class of ‘23, Riley was continuing to pursue a nursing degree at Augusta Medical College’s campus in Athens. She was 22 years old. Friends and family of the victim describe her to be an “amazing daughter, sister, friend and an overall extraordinary person”. She was reported to be an active community member, participating in greek life on campus and her community churches, Woodstock City Church and Watkinsville First Baptist Church. 

In the past week since Riley’s murder, social media conversations surrounding the homicide have had a reach of 11.4 billion. X has held the majority of conversations surrounding the topic. The total number of mentions is currently at 1.25 million, with the second most mentions occurring on February 24th, 2024 totalling 285,768 thousand. The most mentions about the topic occurred on February 28th, 2024 with 308,978 thousand when new information was released about the investigation. The University of Georgia and Augusta University canceled classes on Friday following the news. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has created a great deal of conversation about the topic. In his post expressing condolences for Riley’s family, he also mentions immigration policies from our nation’s administration to be part of the reason for her loss. Individuals have taken both sides arguing for and against his commentary. 

Additional commentary about the homicide surrounded new information released on the events that occurred during the attack. From affidavits and police reports, conversations on social media were at their highest yesterday in discussion of these updates. According to reports published by the Athens-Clarke County police about the investigation, it was identified that Laken Riley did attempt to call the police during her attack and was connected with a dispatcher. Local police have declined to provide the audio of the phone call.

Overall, social media conversations, despite their political orientations, agree on one thing. It shouldn’t have happened. As the nation rallies behind Laken and friends and family mourn her death, promises of honoring her life have emerged. See Laken Riley’s obituary here: https://www.poolefuneralhome.net/obituaries/laken-riley

Author: Lexi Merriman

On February 13^th TikTok user Reesa Teesa stitched a TikTok that asked, “What’s a [crazy] thing that your ex did to you?” In her stitch she noted how, in 2020, her then boyfriend’s (and now ex-husband) grandmother passed away from Covid only for her to later find out that not only did his grandmother pass in 2008 but he was lying about several other relationships and family members and forging fake documents in the attempt to buy a house. Teesa went on to say that she had “married a pathological liar” and asked the TikTok audience to “Let me know if you want to hear more.” This TikTok received over 4 million views and almost 300 thousand likes and, upon audience requests, prompted Teesa to create a 50-part series documenting the lies her ex-husband told which she titled Who TF Did I Marry? Each part of this series pulled in anywhere from 1 million views per part all the way up to almost 30 million views on one part with an additional several hundred thousand likes per part and 10s of thousands of more comments on top of everything else. TikTok users were hooked and needed to hear more of what Teesa’s ex-husband could possibly lie about. This was a quintessential viral moment on social media. 

Now, it’s important to note that Sprinklr currently does not have the available tools to scrape TikTok data in the way that it can for other platforms such as X. However, after just typing the word “who” into the X search bar, one of the first results at this moment in time is for #whotfdidimarry. After inputting that hashtag into Sprinklr, it’s clear that this story has not been contained to TikTok. From February 13^th up to now, #whotfdidimarry has been used across all the social media platforms that Sprinklr covers over 80 thousand times, and it has reached over 300 million users. These non-TikTok discussions likely come from those who were extra invested in the entire series and took to other platforms to continue the conversations. Further, these conversations, which primarily took place on X, peaked on February 20^th, three days after Teesa posted the 50^th and final part to the series. Some of the main themes associated with the hashtag were “Legion,” the Bible referencing nickname Teesa gave her ex-husband, “proof of funds,” something her ex-husband refused to provide when attempting to purchase a house, and “Legion on the phone every morning,” which became a sort of meme about how her ex-husband faked phone calls in front of her every day. 

In terms of sentiment, the related discussions were split at about 46% positive and 54% negative which could be explained by the fact that Teesa’s story, while very negative in content, spurred lots of jokes and memes based off how crazy the string of events was. It is also no surprise that these conversations were primarily based in the United States as Teesa’s story took place in Atlanta, Georgia. Further, the participants in the conversations skewed more towards women likely due to the fact that many women found solace in the fact that even their worst relationships paled in comparison to the one Teesa found herself in. Finally, looking at the audience members and influencers that Sprinklr identified, there were no clear mainstream accounts participating in the #whotfdidimarry discourse. This story is one that is fully grassroots from an everyday person like Reesa Teesa posting it to normal everyday people talking about it online. This is truly a viral story unlike any other that shows how hot topics such as this one cannot be confined to the bounds of just one social media platform.

Author: Ben Katarzynski

On February 2, 2024, tech giant Apple launched the “The Apple Vision Pro” headset to the public market, reportedly hoping to sell as many as half a million headsets before the end of this year.

The Apple Vision Pro augmented reality headset has become one of the most talked-about gadgets, costing about $3500, making it the most expensive AR headset. According to Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, the Apple Vision Pro is “the most advanced consumer electronics device ever created.”

According to Apple, users can control the device’s interface using their eyes, hands and voice. The headset will allow users to immerse themselves in the company’s vision operating system, supporting spatial Facetime video, photos and apps.

While the headset’s production has been marked by creativity and innovation, recent media discussions have raised significant concerns. Critics argue that the product is prohibitively expensive and not aimed at the broader consumer market. Some personal opinions also assert that Apple’s inaugural headset lacks refinement and a clear purpose, emphasizing its inability to substitute for a laptop in professional settings. Multiple news reports citing social media activity highlight a recent surge in Vision Pro returns. According to The Verge, discomfort, headaches, and eye strain rank high among the reported reasons for returning Vision Pro headsets.

To examine the online engagement regarding the Apple Vision Pro, the team at SMLC conducted an in-depth analysis to find out the major discussion themes, sentiment analysis and showcase reactions about the AR headset in the United States. Results show that over the timeframe from the launch date, till this article was posted, there were over 105.68k mentions with a reach of 3.73 billion. Interestingly, there was a close gap in the sentiment analysis; 49.99% (26.83K) were positive mentions, while 50.01% (26.84K) were negative.

Embarking on thoroughly exploring sentiment scores and their associated themes, positive mentions have manifested distinctive topic clusters and emerging themes. These include Experience, Spatial Computing, Real-Time Events, Future Developments, Apps, and Sports. The ensuing reactions provide a glimpse into the diverse conversations surrounding these themes.

Additional themes arising from a negative perspective encompass Generation Attention Span, Apple Vision, and the anticipation of normalcy in a few years.

With the Apple Vision Pro being just about a month old, I believe time will serve as the ultimate narrator in discerning both the adoption rate and the overall success of this gadget. 

Author: Bowale Odukale

Do you remember Bridgit Mendler? You might know her from her stint on the Disney Channel in roles such as Teddy Duncan in Good Luck Charlie or Olivia in Lemonade Mouth. Or maybe you know her from her music career with songs like Hurricane or Ready or Not. Or maybe you don’t know Bridget Mendler at all, and that’s ok. But let me tell you about the waves she’s making on social media right now. 

After stepping down from her connections to the Disney Channel, Mendler went pretty quiet on social media as focused on pursuing her Doctor of Law degree from Harvard University and PhD from MIT. According to her LinkedIn page, she’ll have completed both degrees later this year, so it is understandable as to why she gave less time to acting, music, and social media in general. This is why when she posted to X in November of 2022, “k sit tight for news,” fans thought she might be returning to the public eye. This post received over 80 thousand likes, almost 5 thousand reposts, and just over 8 thousand quotes. However, Mendler again went quite on social media with only two quote posts until November of 2023 where she wrote beneath the “sit tight,” post, “Friends! Staying on brand with a signature cryptic post from me because I see ur q’s, i’ll tell you this, news is coming (not imminently, give it a few) that I am thoroughly excited to share, though it will not be what you expect… better imo 😉 love you.” This post received 11 thousand likes, almost 1 thousand reposts, and just over 1 thousand quotes. However, the post itself was viewed almost 800 thousand times. Mendler’s X account then went quiet until this past Monday, February 19^th.

Since Monday morning, Mendler has been mentioned on social media over 150 thousand times and these posts have reached over 700 million users across all platforms. You might wonder why someone who has been so wildly inactive on social media is pulling these numbers all of a sudden, but it starts will a post made at 9:01 AM on Monday. User Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) on X posts a link to a story announcing that Mendler has become the CEO of the satellite data company Northwood Space. This post was viewed 2.5 million times, and Mendler herself quoted it saying, “Expect the unexpected!” Mendler’s post was viewed almost 3 million times and received over 20 thousand likes.

In this announcement many users on social media have been amazed at the fact the Mendler makes it seem like she can do it all. 

Further, the sentiment around the discussions of Mendler online have been overwhelmingly positive at almost 96% (specifically 95.87%). Diving further into the demographics of those currently discussing Mendler, the social media users in the discourse are almost 50% more female than they are male and primarily coming from the United States with over 20 thousand mentions. However other significant contributions are coming from Brazil, Sri Lanka, and France with 6.05 thousand mentions, 3.4 thousand mentions, and 3.03 thousand mentions respectively. Some of the biggest influencers in these conversations include large pop culture news accounts such as Pop Crave, Pop Base, and 2000s which have likely helped contribute to the reach of Mendler’s news. However, becoming a CEO was not the only thing Mendler announced on Monday. Riding the high of the support for her new business venture, Mendler made another big post at 11:31 PM saying, “The other news I wanted to share is I’m a mama to a sweet 4yo boy. Started fostering in 2021 adopted near Christmas of 2022. I’m so lucky — being a parent is the biggest gift and most defining experience there is … that’s my news for now folks [yellow heart emoji].” Less than 24 hours later this post has been seen over 8 million times and liked almost 300 thousand times. This, combined with her other news, has Mendler as a hot topic on everyone’s timeline. Sprinklr’s volume trend graph showing a straight line going up with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

While she may not be acting in anything new or making new music anytime soon, one thing is for sure: Mendler is one of kind and shows that you can stay relevant while doing what you care about.

Author: Ben Katarzynski

The Kansas City Chiefs took home the Super Bowl win in Las Vegas on February 11th in a roller coaster matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. The game kept viewers on edge as it went into overtime and the winning touchdown was scored in the final three seconds. The event had a total of 6.43 million mentions between Sunday, February 11th to Monday, February 12th, 2024. Overall, Super Bowl LVIII had a reach of 78.18 billion. Setting a new viewership record that was previously at 115.1 million viewers when the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles last year. Social media conversations were predominantly held on X, Reddit, News broadcasts, and Instagram, with X having a total of 5,647,399 mentions. 

One of the key areas of discussion was Travis Kelce’s “attitude” on the field. Kelce was seen speaking to head coach, Andy Reid, during the second quarter of the game in a seemingly aggressive way. The topic had an overall negative sentiment towards Kelce. In his podcast following the game, he stated “I immediately wished I took it back”. 

A topic that also produced a good amount of discussion was Beyonce and her announcement of new music being released during the super bowl half-time performance. Beyonce was also featured in the Verizon Super Bowl ad before sharing the announcement of new music for her Renaissance Album via social media. Usher’s half-time show was a hit and received a lot of positive feedback on social channels, but during his halftime performance Beyonce dropped two songs, “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages”. 

Despite the added element of Beyonce sharing new songs. Usher did experience a lot of positive feedback following his performance at the Super Bowl. 

One of the other topics of conversation that produced a lot of conversation on social media channels was the 30 second series of ads purchased by the State of Israel. Many viewers were shocked to see this and took to social media to discuss the ads. Of note in conversations, a 30 second ad at this year’s Super Bowl cost approximately 7 million. The series of ads used a hashtag, #BringThemHomeNow, to bring attention to the 136 Israeli hostages that were being held by Hamas. 

In the past week, since Super Bowl LVIII, there have been a total of 9.98 million mentions with a reach of 121.32 billion. It has been determined that Super Bowl LVIII was the most watched Super Bowl to date. Collectively between the streaming platforms used, CBS Television Network, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, NFL+, there were 123.4 million viewers on average.

Author: Lexi Merriman

The 34th iteration of the biannual African football competition, known as the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, or CAN 2023, ended last Sunday when the host Cote d’Ivoire defeated Nigeria’s Super Eagles 2-1 to take home the championship.

The tournament, organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), included 24 teams and was staged in six venues across five host cities from January 13, 2024, to February 11, 2024. During the tournament, there were lots of surprises that made the competition very interesting. For example, Sebastien Haller, an Ivorian striker who recovered from testicular cancer 13 months prior, scored the game-winning goals in both the semifinal and championship games to give the Ivorians their third continental championship. Other examples included the underdogs Equatorial Guinea defeating the hosts and emerging victorious in Group A, surpassing more prestigious rivals like Nigeria. Cape Verde also triumphed in the same group. Mauritania won the tournament for the first time, but Namibia and Angola—two of the four lowest-ranked teams in the group stage—succeeded in the knockout stages. To go to the last four, South Africa defeated Morocco. What’s more telling is that these unexpected outcomes and performances weren’t coincidences.

At 2.29 goals per game on average, the 2023 AFCON produced a record 119 goals. Its rate of 2.38 goals per game hasn’t been surpassed since 2012. According to the governing body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), more than two billion people watched the competition live on television, making it the most watched Nations Cup finals ever. The final was aired in 173 countries worldwide.

According to a thorough analysis of AFCON’s social media interactions using Sprinklr, the competition received over 5,442,811 mentions with a reach of over 67.3 billion people. Data also showed 65.4% positive and 34.6% negative mentions from conversations. Conversation themes from this analysis are-  Best AFCON, Super Eagles, Ivory Coast, AFCON 2024, and AFCON 2023.

During the competition, Nigeria had the highest interactions, exceeding 1.11 million, followed by South Africa with 307.33 thousand. Ghana had 280.15 thousand interactions, the United States recorded 255.86 thousand, and the United Kingdom had 193.29 thousand.

Examining the positive sentiments from the AFCON, it was glaring that many viewers were really happy with the development of football in Africa and the good use of VAR technology, amongst other things. 

Author: Bowale Odukale

Ready your torches and outdoor gear because it’s that time of year again! Season 46 of the award-winning competition-based reality television show Survivor is right around the corner, and the cast was just announced last week on February 5^th. For those unfamiliar, Survivor is a reality game show where a group of strangers are stranded on a remote island where they must work together to survive and complete challenges while simultaneously voting each other off the island until one person is left standing to claim the title of Sole Survivor and a one-million-dollar grand prize.

Being mentioned over two thousand times and reaching almost ten million people, the hype for the upcoming season has been overwhelmingly positive at over 80% across all social media platforms. However, X is the platform the houses the majority of the discussion followed far behind by Instagram and other news outlets. With most of the content being generated between the United States and Canada, the two countries that Survivor casts from, the main topics of discussion were the photos of the new cast members and fans’ preseason winner picks. Assessing Sprinklr’s word could feature, the most mentioned contestants from the new cast are 29-year-old salon owner Kenzie Petty and 24-year-old data analyst Venus Vafa. Further, popular emojis that have been included in discussions of the upcoming season include the purple, green, and orange hearts (which are the colors of the tribes the cast is divided into) as well as other emojis that depicts Survivor related imagery such as a fire, a palm tree, and a beach.

Some of the popular winner picks that are appearing in the discussions include 37-year-old software engineer Jessica Chong and 24-year-old actor Tevin Davis.

Compared to season 45 which aired last fall, season 46 has been mentioned more across all social media platforms, but these posts have reach about two million less accounts. However, season 45’s preseason cast announcement was received about 10% more negatively. Some of the top influencers in the discussions across platforms include executive editor for Entertainment Weekly Dalton Ross, former Survivor contestant and reality television podcaster Rob Cesternino, and writer for parade magazine Mike Bloom. 

When it comes to more general audience members, the conversations have been made up of almost twice as many men as compared to women. Further, when looking at the advocates versus the detractor amongst those contributing to the discussions, many users have been classified as both likely do to the fact that many people are not only vocal about the new contestants that they do like but also about the ones that they do not. 

Season 46 of Survivor premiers at 8:00 PM EST on February 28^th, so check back here the first week in March to see just what these people think of the new contestants once they’ve began their fight for the one-million-dollar grand prize.

Author: Ben Katarzynski

Earlier this week, Buckingham Palace released a statement confirming that King Charles III has been diagnosed with cancer. This comes just a week after the 75-year-old monarch was discharged from a London hospital, where he underwent a procedure to address an enlarged prostate. The palace did not specify the type of cancer Charles is facing.

Reports state that King Charles will take a temporary leave of absence from public appearances, usually speeches, visits to charities he supports, community initiatives, and international travel.

In the wake of King Charles’s cancer diagnosis, the online community has been buzzing with reactions. From the announcement until Friday, discussions about this development have reached a staggering 9.98 billion, with 446.54K mentions. A sentiment analysis of these discussions reveals a notable surge, with 79.73% of mentions having a negative tone, while positive mentions account for 20.27%. The news has undoubtedly stirred a significant and diverse range of opinions across various online platforms.

The monitoring of conversations surrounding King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis has revealed several major content themes. Key topics include King Charles III, Prince William, Prince Charles, the Royal Family, Buckingham Palace, and Cancer Diagnosis. Notably, discussions around Prince William have gained prominence, with many speculating that Charles’s duties may transition to his son, William, the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne. This speculation has sparked significant interest and conversation within the online community. The Royal Family conversations concerned whether this cancer diagnostics could reunite the family.

According to the New York Times, if King Charles is temporarily unable to act as head of state because of illness or traveling abroad, counselors of state are appointed to cover his duties. The next four adult heirs in line and the monarch’s spouse usually serve as counselors of state. 

Author: Bowale Odukale

Sunday, February 4^th was the day of the 66^th Annual Grammy Awards, a ceremony dedicated to celebrating and honoring the accomplishments of those in the music industry from the year prior. With surprise appearances, album announcements, and more, there was certainly a lot to be discussed on social media. Generally speaking, across all platforms since Sunday morning, the Grammys were mentioned over 3 million times with a reach to over 33 billion users across the world. Obviously, as that far exceeds the world population and accounting for the fact that not everyone uses social media, it can be inferred that many people were interfacing with Grammy related content across more than one of their preferred social media platforms. 

The posts surrounding the Grammys were about 70% positive and 30% which, interestingly enough, falls very close to the same sentiment split regarding posts made during the same time frame about Taylor Swift who won the Album of the Year award and announced her new album coming out later this year, The Tortured Poet’s Department. Taylor also made history by breaking the record for most Album of the Year wins.

Other main topics of discussion connected to the Grammys aside from Taylor Swift included other artists such as Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey. Posts about Miley Cyrus were overwhelming positive sitting at just over 90% as she had many notable moments throughout the ceremony’s broadcast. First, she showed up on the red carpet in a gold mesh dress where she was surprised to see the press using iPhones for photography. Second, she won her first ever Grammy for her hit song Flowers. And third, she performed a rendition of Flowers with several ad libs celebrating her night. 

On the other hand, the sentiment around Lana Del Rey was split about 60% positive and 40% negative as fans were unhappy that she was still unable to win her first Grammy.

Looking into the demographics behind the Grammy discussions, conversations were primarily taking place on X which further featured mostly users from the United States which makes sense as The Grammys are an American awards show. Men and women had near equal voices in the conversations though the women were slightly more vocal. Some of the top influencers in the conversations were news organizations such as CNN, The New York Times, and the pop culture focused account Pop Base. Alongside these users the most frequent hashtags were all Grammy focused such as #Grammys and #Grammys2024, but the most popular non-Grammy hashtag was #TaylorSwift which speaks to the impact that she left on the broadcast.

Other notable moments of conversation from Sunday night included Jay-Z questioning the academy as to why his wife Beyoncé has never won the Album of the Year award which was more negatively (about 53%) than positively and Tracy Chapman’s return to the public spotlight to duet with Luke Combs which was almost completely positively received (almost 93%).

Compared to last year, the Grammys were mentioned about half a million times less and reached about 3 billion less users with a very similar 69% positive 31% negative sentiment split. Looking to next year and the years to come, will Beyoncé ever win Album of the Year? Will Taylor Swift win Album of the Year again? Will Lana Del Rey ever win a Grammy? No matter what happens going forward one thing is certain: people are going to have something to say, and they’re going to say it on social media.

Author: Ben Katarzynski