What The Onion Headline That Keeps Going Viral Means For Gun Control
ListenFirst’s thoughts are with the people of Uvalde, Texas and everyone who was affected by the tragic mass shooting that occurred there. It is difficult to objectively analyze data around senseless violent events, but there are some insights we would like to share around the online social data which may be key indicators of the nation’s tolerance for this type of violence.
Around these senseless mass shootings, one way people on social media process the event is by sharing familiar headlines from various online news feeds. We will take a brief look at a reoccurring trending headline post from The Onion and see if the increased engagement around the tradition speaks to an increased public desire for gun control reform.
The Onion keeps republishing the headline “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” after mass shootings. The Onion shared posts using this headline 25 times since 2014 getting 957,041 total engagements on social media. As the article satirizes America’s unwillingness to change public policy to address a recurring problem, the more mass shootings, the more relevant the headline becomes to people. For example, The Onion’s most engaged version of that post was a May 16, 2022 Tweet that got 162,041 engagement and referred to a racist gunman killing 10 people at a Buffalo grocery store. Second most engaging was a May 25, 2022 Tweet, getting 145,458 engagements and sharing the headline in the context of the mass school shooting at Uvalde, Texas.
In comparison, The Onion first used the “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” headline on social media in their The Onion Review — Week Of May 30, 2014 video on YouTube getting just 636 engagements.
There can be a high correlation on social media, between school shootings occurring and gun control being discussed. For example on May 25, 2022 , the day after the Uvalde Texas school mass shooting, there were 591,058 Tweets mentioning a School Shooting and 610,625 Tweets mentioning Gun Control. On February 15, 2018, the day after the Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland, Florida there were 755,796 Tweets mentioning a School Shooting and 349,461 Tweets mentioning Gun Control. On December 14, 2012, the day of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting there were 472,732 Tweets mentioning a School Shooting and 287,628 Tweets mentioning Gun Control.
2022 Tweets represent the time period of January through May, 2022.
Not even halfway through 2022, there have already been more Tweets mentioning a school shooting this year than in any year since 2018. The Twitter conversation around both School Shooting and around Gun Control peaked in 2018, around the Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting most specifically.
Conclusion
It does not appear the increased engagement around The Onion’s “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” represents a larger audience interest in legislative reform around gun control. While there does appear to be a significant correlation between school shootings and gun control being discussed on social media, there was the most social conversation around both topics in 2018. That’s despite Uvalde, Texas being the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012.
Based on the social data at least, what happened in Uvalde, Texas is not going to be the tipping point for change, leading unfortunately to even more opportunities for The Onion to share the exact same headline in the future. If anything, the social media reaction to Uvalde indicates a new level of tolerance for violence in America.
ListenFirst Announces Support For Google Data Studio
Google Data Studio Connector
Social media analytics data from ListenFirst, including proprietary metrics can now be accessed directly from the Google Data Studio dashboard.
NEW YORK – March 24, 2022 – ListenFirst, the premier enterprise social analytics solution, today announced the launch of Business Intelligence (BI) Connector for Google Data Studio (GDS), providing their customers with an interface to connect directly to the ListenFirst API and access data on-demand within their Google Data Studio dashboard. This new feature introduces codeless integration and enables ListenFirst customers to create a multitude of data visualizations by manipulating and layering different social media insights within Google Data Studio’s chart/control types and customizations. These visualizations help marketers gain a deeper understanding of their return on investment per project enabling them to make informed decisions about future investments.
Available as a Partner Connector within the Google Data Studio Connectors page, ListenFirst’s BI Connector for Google Data Studio creates a quicker, more seamless way to get bulk selection of data without needing frontend access. Reporting cycles are readily available in GDS by utilizing dynamic date ranges to automatically refresh the latest insights in the desired date range and parameters.
“For ListenFirst customers looking to use data for visual storytelling, we couldn’t be more excited about what the BI Connector for Google Data Studio unlocks,” explains Jonathan Farb, Chief Product Officer. “Not only will users be able to conduct cross data source analysis, ad hoc / on-demand reporting, advanced charting, and data visualization, but Google Data Studio is completely free, meaning everyone with ListenFirst API access can take advantage of it.”
Through the BI Connector for Google Data Studio, social analytics insights from ListenFirst can also be published side by side with critical business data points from other sources in GDS, turning complex, data driven intelligence into easy to understand visualizations.
How The Ukraine War Is Impacting Social Media
On behalf of everyone at ListenFirst, our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine, and we hope the horrific and unnecessary conflict ends as soon as possible, with Ukrainians safe and the independence of the country intact.
While everything else involving the conflict is secondary to that, we did want to give a better picture of the social media conversation around the war in general, and how brands are discussing it.
The World Stands With Ukraine
There have been 61,881,105 Tweets mentioning Ukraine between February 24 – March 2, 2022. Additionally, there were 3,792,398 Tweets mentioning either the hashtag #StandWithUkraine or #IStandWithUkraine in the same time period. In comparison, there were only 61,827 Tweets mentioning Ukraine between February 24 – March 2 in 2021.
So the world is definitely focused on the conflict in Ukraine, but the volume of discussion on social media does appear to be decreasing over time. For example, there were 13,247,074 Tweets on February 24 mentioning Ukraine with that down to 5,440,689 Tweets mentioning Ukraine on March 2, 2022.
Unsurprisingly, Vladimir Putin is not a figure that’s very popular on social media right now. Overall, there have been 31,531,497 Tweets mentioning Putin between February 24 – March 2, 2022, with 44% of those Tweets being Negative, 9% Positive, and 31% of the Tweets expressing the emotion of Anger.
A good deal of the positive sentiment around Vladimir Putin can probably be attributed to disinformation campaigns. For example, there were 194,172 Tweets using the hashtag #IStandWithPutin or #StandWithPutin between February 24 – March 2, 2022 (39% of those Tweets were coming from either India or Nigeria). Additionally, there have been 67,503 Tweets in the same time period, discussing Bots in the context of Russia or Putin.
Brands Are Sharing Slightly Less Posts On Social Media Since Ukraine Was Invaded
The following chart shows the number of posts shared February 19-23, 2022 vs February 24-28, 2022.
Vertial
# of Posts shared On February 19-23
# of Posts Shared On February 24-28
% of Change
Beverage Brands
1,799
1,329
-26.13%
CPG Food Brands
2,185
1,690
-22.65%
S&P 500 Brands
4,137
3,217
-22.24%
Beauty Brands
8,108
7,328
-9.62%
Top Advertisers
9,261
8,439
-8.88%
Major & Independent Films
2,053
1,916
-6.67%
Episodic TV Shows
21,868
21,206
-3.03%
Fashion Brands
12,214
12,227
0.11%
Depending on the vertical, brands have been moderately more hesitant to post on social media since Russia invaded Ukraine. Comparing February 24-28, 2022 to February 19-23, 2022, 464 Top Advertisers brands tracked by ListenFirst shared 8.88% fewer posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. In the same time period, 978 brands in the Beverage industry shared 26.13% fewer posts, with CPG Food brands sharing 22.65% fewer posts.
For entertainment brands, the war has had a smaller impact on the frequency of social media posts. Of 7,584 Major + Independent films ListenFirst was tracking, their amount of posts decreased by 6.67% and 7,377 Episodic TV brands decreased the amount of posts on social by 3.03%.
Meanwhile, 1,190 brands in the Beauty industry shared 9.62% fewer posts while 2,500 Fashion brands actually shared 0.11% more posts in the same time period.
If Brands Are Posting About Ukraine Also Varies By Vertical
Between February 24-28, 2022, CPG Food brands only shared 6 social media posts mentioning Ukraine, and the brands in the Beverage industry only mentioned Ukraine in 3 posts. Additionally, Majors + Independents Films only shared 8 posts mentioning Ukraine.
Meanwhile, S&P 500 brands posted 100 posts about Ukraine, Fashion brands posted 85 times about Ukraine, and Beauty brands shared 45 posts on social media about Ukraine.
Brand Posts AboutUkraine Have Overwhelmingly Expressed Solidarity
The most popular brand post we found discussing the war in Ukraine between February 24-28, 2022 was by The Simpsons, with the family holding up Ukrainian flags, which is also the same color scheme as Marge’s head. That post got 410,678 engagements on Instagram and another 317,768 engagements on Twitter. Additionally, the “Prayer for Ukraine” performed by Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York cold open from Saturday Night Live received 164,104 engagements on Instagram and 148,161 engagements on Twitter.
Many brands talked about their personal ties to Ukraine. For example, Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Stand With Ukraine post on Instagram, which got 21,774 engagements, talked about how their founder grew up in a communist regime and understands the frightening implications of the invasion. Meanwhile, 1 Granary explained in an Instagram post that got 5,775 engagements that the brand was founded by a Ukrainian woman whose parents, siblings, nieces, and friends are right now fighting in Kyiv.
Often brands have been posting about how they’re changing their business practices or otherwise taking actions in support of the Ukrainian people. For example, the Walt Disney Company announced in a Tweet that they are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia. Etsy announced on Facebook that they are canceling the current balances owed to Etsy by all sellers in Ukraine.
Other brands focused on addressing the food crisis that the war is creating. Goya shared on Facebook how they’re distributing hundreds of thousands of pounds of food to the people of Ukraine, while Tory Sport asked people to join them in supporting the World Central Kitchen, which is in Poland feeding hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
Cryptocurrency Is Not Being Discussed More Because Of The War, But Disinformation Is A Significant Issue
Overall, the war is not increasing the volume of conversation around cryptocurrency. For example, there have been 133,455 posts in the CryptoCurrency subreddit between February 24 – March 2, 2022, which was a 27.31% decrease from the volume of posts in the subreddit from February 17-23, 2022. However, that doesn’t mean crypto isn’t being discussed within the context of the war and with a lot of disinformation.
On Reddit there is a lot of articles from sources of questionable reliability being used to promote Bitcoin as a wartime solution. For example, the top Reddit post mentioning Bitcoin between February 24 – March 2, 2022 received a post score of 11,688 (upvotes – downvotes) and talked about how Russia will seize 60 trillion rubles from their own citizens if they go broke from sanctions, but Bitcoin can not be seized. Another top performing Bitcoin related Reddit Post got a post score of 3,887 and linked to an article where an anonymous hacker was offering Russian soldiers over $50K worth of Bitcoin for each tank surrendered.
Additionally at least one brand is being accused of being opportunistic around crypto and the war. In a post that got 3,045 upvotes, it was pointed out that while FTX is giving $25 of ‘free’ crypto to Ukrainians on their platform, the minimum FTX withdrawal limit is $100, so it would cost Ukrainians $75 to withdraw that money.
On Twitter there were 197,650 Tweets that mentioned both cryptocurrency and either Russia and Putin, and 166,508 Tweets mentioning both Bitcoin and either Russia or Putin specifically. Much of the conversation was speculating about if Russia would use Bitcoin to evade sanctions or focused on defending Bitcoin, like the fate of the cryptocurrency as opposed to human lives are what’s at stake.
If you hate #Bitcoin because Putin might use it, you should also hate the internet, GPS, cars, airplanes, and oxygen.
For example, a Bitcoin Magazine Tweet that Russia might start using Bitcoin to get around sanctions got 14,637 engagements. Meanwhile, a Tweet saying “If you hate #Bitcoin because Putin might use it, you should also hate the internet, GPS, cars, airplanes, and oxygen.” got 13,618 engagements. A Tweet by finance and business influencer Robert Kiyosaki claiming that “Bitcoin” defies Putin got 10,802 engagements.
Conclusion
For as long as the conflict is ongoing, ListenFirst will continue to monitor the situation and how brands are responding to it on social media. For now, our thoughts and wishes remain with the people of Ukraine.
2022 Social Media Marketing Trends
Social media is no longer an ancillary marketing channel for brands to explore. Brands that want to stay relevant to today’s consumer must constantly work to optimize their social media strategy.
This infographic shares how marketing and analyst professionals are approaching 2022 and the challenges and opportunities they plan to encounter.
How impactful are sports leagues for paid partnership posts? ListenFirst created a comprehensive infographic to answer that very question for brands and marketers. Sports and Sponsored Content: The Winning Playbook looks at the performance of 5,378 sponsored posts shared on the social media channels of the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and MLS between July 2020 – June 2021.
