Sept. 28 trends: Focusing on the local, not the hearings

Posted on September 28, 2018 by john

LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL: Top House hashtags: #taxscamfitz #gotv #goptaxscam Top Senate hashtags: #choosecruz #keeptexasred #teamjohnjames Interesting climbers: #americafirst (4th place House): A popular general tag for the #maga crowd. Used across a number of districts, but standing out here following a very strong fundraiser by GOP candidate Danny Tarkanian in NV03. Read more about Sept. 28 trends: Focusing on the local, not the hearings[…]

Sept. 25 trends: #Confirmkavanaugh? or #Believesurvivors?

Posted on September 25, 2018September 25, 2018 by john

LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL: Top House hashtags: #beavoter #30years #flipthehouse Top Senate hashtags: #keeptexasred #confirmkavanaugh #scotus Interesting climbers: #mariposadebate (4th place House): Used by Democrat Jessica Morse referring to her debate against GOP incumbent Tom McClintock in California 04, and fairly widely picked up by supporters. #believesurvivors (13th place House): Expressing solidarity with the women Read more about Sept. 25 trends: #Confirmkavanaugh? or #Believesurvivors?[…]

Cruz “trollbot” ratings remain high through O’Rourke-Cruz debate surge

Posted on September 23, 2018 by john

Summary: The surge in #TXSen tweets around Friday’s Ted Cruz – Beto O’Rourke debate gives us an excellent chance to compare the features of active Twitter posters from both camps. We find that Cruz’s top 200 #KeepTexasRed posters continue to skew toward the midrange of “Problematic” (average: 62.83%) on the Bot Sentinel’s “trollbot” scale. By contrast, Read more about Cruz “trollbot” ratings remain high through O’Rourke-Cruz debate surge[…]

Sept. 22 trends: Debates and tweetstorms

Posted on September 22, 2018September 22, 2018 by john

LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL: Top House hashtags: #va10debate #flippablue #electpawomen Top Senate hashtags: #betomania #betofortexas #txsenatedebate Interesting climbers: #forthepeople: This appears to be part of a fairly substantial tweet campaign from Democrats in Pennsylvania, supporting candidates particularly in PA05 and PA06. #workersdeservemore: Another hashtag from the PA05 and PA06 Democrats. #protectourcare: While also Read more about Sept. 22 trends: Debates and tweetstorms[…]

Sept 20 trends: Bigfoot’s #truth, GOP win in Texas

Posted on September 20, 2018 by john

LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL: Top House hashtags: #truth #bluewave #takeitback Top Senate hashtags: #keeptexasred #choosecruz #txlege Interesting climbers: #arpx (12th place House): A shorthand for “Arkansas politics.” Used here primarily by Democrat Clarke Tucker, whose GOP rival (and incumbent) French Hill declined to attend a televised candidate debate. #waelex (18th place House): Shorthand Read more about Sept 20 trends: Bigfoot’s #truth, GOP win in Texas[…]

Ted Cruz’s trollbot army, looking conclusive edition

Posted on September 18, 2018September 19, 2018 by john

With deeper data analysis, we’re seeing still more worrisome signs that Ted Cruz’s recent Twitter surge has been driven by bots or other manipulative accounts. The upshot here? In a comparison between the 200 most active posters in the #TXSen race and the 200 most active posters in all other competitive races, the #TXSen posters (almost Read more about Ted Cruz’s trollbot army, looking conclusive edition[…]

Sept 17 trends: Blue House, Red Senate

Posted on September 17, 2018 by john

LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL: Top House hashtags: #takeitback #redtoblue #bluewave Top Senate hashtags: #keeptexasred #choosecruz #letsflymi Interesting climbers: #betomania (7th place Senate): An indication that Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke is beginning to crack into the top-Twitter lists. Largely used by strong supporters (not necessarily in-district), rather than by the campaign itself. Closely followed by Read more about Sept 17 trends: Blue House, Red Senate[…]

Ted Cruz’s (bot?) army, pt. 2

Posted on September 15, 2018September 15, 2018 by john

Today comes a look at Ted Cruz’s Really Great Twitter Performance (TM) from a different angle, combining Pollchatter.org data with other projects’ research into bot and troll behavior. Yesterday we found clearly suspect behavior from at least one of Cruz’s strong supporters – in that case, the improbable posting of two simultaneous posts, with precisely identical to-the-second Read more about Ted Cruz’s (bot?) army, pt. 2[…]

A data-driven look at Cruz’s (bot?) army

Posted on September 14, 2018September 14, 2018 by john

For the last several days, we’ve been promising a look under the hood at Sen. Ted Cruz’s fairly astonishing Twitter performance, using the Pollchatter.org data. As previously noted, the numbers on his Tweets have been very consistently higher than any other district in the nation, usually by quite a substantial amount. Much of this is Read more about A data-driven look at Cruz’s (bot?) army[…]

Sept 14 trends: Strange votes and scare tactics

Posted on September 14, 2018September 14, 2018 by john

LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL: Top House hashtags: #30years #flipitblue #bluewave Top Senate hashtags: #choosecruz #istand #getthingsdone Interesting climbers: #cultureofcorruption (House: 18th place): While this is a general tag being adopted by Democrats to refer to the current GOP, today’s use comes predominantly from Kansas 03. Here, the main reference is to GOP Rep. Read more about Sept 14 trends: Strange votes and scare tactics[…]