Social media marketing agency Attention has turned its attention (groan) to the U.S. protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street, aka #OccupyWallSt on Twitter. According to data revealed today, Twitter is the network of choice for sharing information related to the protests, with 82.5% of the mentions, compared with just 2.8% on Facebook, 0.5% on YouTube and 12.5% on personal blogs.
The data analysis also shows that Twitter activity increases on weekends, a unique trend that’s atypical of most Twitter-based social media patterns, the firm says.
Usually, Twitter trends peak during workdays, often mid-week, as people tweet from their desks instead of working, Attention notes. But with #OccupyWallSt, the trend is the opposite: tweets spike over weekends, indicating that people are actually using their free time to support the cause and raise awareness.
The analysts gathered data from September 10th through October 10th in their analysis. The mass arrest of protestors on the Brooklyn Bridge caused the highest spike in activity on October 1st and activity remained high through October 6th.
In tracking the average mentions per day, the firm found there were very few in the first week – just 18.8 per day. After the occupation start on 9/17, average mentions for the week went up by 2,004%. The following week saw an increase of 97% and after the Brooklyn Bridge arrests, the mentions increased again by 216%. (See below chart for details).
Since the arrests, mentions dropped (no tweeting from jail?), and last weekend didn’t show a spike in activity as per usual. That said, the movement itself rages on. (See Erick’s earlier post detailing the social media efforts surrounding the protests).
The protests themselves, a remarkable example of a disruptive force seemingly sprung directly from the ashes of our fallen economy, has become a growing movement where outraged citizens demand…well, what do they demand? That is the question. The movements’ participants each have their own reasons for joining in, whether it’s anger over unemployment and lacking job prospects, the greediness of corporate fat cats, the mistakes made by Washington leadership, the downfall of the American dream, or dozens of other complaints as indicated by their homemade placards and signs.
At least some of the group has drafted a list of actionable demands, but that news doesn’t appear to be getting as much press as does news of, oh gee, Twitter trends (yep, guilty here) or the participation by Hollywood celebs and artists like Kanye West, Russel Simmons, Lil Wayne, Hank Williams Jr., Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, Roseanne Barr, Yoko Ono, Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins and Michael Moore (no doubt already filming his next documentary).
In case you’re wondering about the accuracy of the above data, Attention represents high-profile brands like Mattel, Verizon and Pepperidge Farm and has 125 people spread out across New York, London and L.A. In other words, a fairly reputable firm, as far as social media monitoring goes.
Girl about to tweet on her smartphone? Photo via http://occupyweb.org.
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