#GASen: More vanishing GOPers, strong Dem networks (+ bonus bot!)

Posted on October 21, 2020October 21, 2020 by john

District summary: #GASen is actually two districts, thanks to the magic of special elections (and non-specific Twitter hashtags). The first is the regular election for current GOP officeholder David Perdue’s seat, where Democrat Jon Ossof is the primary challenger. The second is the special election for well-heeled GOP incumbent Kelly Loeffler‘s seat, which is still Read more about #GASen: More vanishing GOPers, strong Dem networks (+ bonus bot!)[…]

#GA-07: The case of the disappearing GOP

Posted on October 19, 2020October 19, 2020 by john

District summary: Georgia’s 7th congressional district: An open-seat district where Twitter megaphones have brought considerable attention from around the country. Several high-intensity non-campaign accounts and retweet networks have driven traffic to outsized levels here over past months. But in the last week, Republicans have practically disappeared. Current status: Democrats supporting Carolyn Bourdeaux, a professor and Read more about #GA-07: The case of the disappearing GOP[…]

Tracking potential traffic manipulation for districts and hashtags

Posted on October 13, 2020October 13, 2020 by john

SUMMARY: Pollchatter’s “Hashtag warnings” and “District warnings” pages give an indication of which hashtags and districts might be the target of deliberate traffic manipulation. Numbers matter on Twitter. Retweets, likes, followers, networks of influence. But it’s not always obvious how fluctuations in these factors should be interpreted. It’s thus helpful to have a measure of Read more about Tracking potential traffic manipulation for districts and hashtags[…]

Pollchatter: a reintroduction

Posted on September 9, 2020September 10, 2020 by john

This is a reintroduction, a reappearance. Mayflies come out only once every two years, right? Or is that cicadas? Back to you on that one. In any case: Pollchatter is a site meant to help make sense of the bewildering stream of election content on Twitter. It tracks tweets that reference any of 117 competitive Read more about Pollchatter: a reintroduction[…]

A visual overview of 2018’s election Twitter

Posted on November 5, 2018September 10, 2020 by john

Summary Election activity on Twitter in the final days of the 2018 midterms comes with bewildering speed. However, a look at the networks formed by the highest-frequency posters in all competitive races show that Democrats and Republicans have different patterns of interaction. Methodology The graph below is a slightly stylized look at the most active Read more about A visual overview of 2018’s election Twitter[…]

Anti-Heitkamp tweet surge following Kavanaugh vote wasn’t her constituents

Posted on October 7, 2018September 10, 2020 by john

SUMMARY: In the two days after Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp courageously voted against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, she was subject to a surge of condemnation on Twitter. We examined the accounts retweeting her Republican rival’s most popular anti-Heitkamp Tweet, and found that nearly 75% are very likely to have come from out of district Read more about Anti-Heitkamp tweet surge following Kavanaugh vote wasn’t her constituents[…]