I've been coding up a new workflow for analysis of Twitter profiles. Thought I'd kick off Monday by showcasing some insights about @PRGuy17, who everyone is talking about.
I collected the entire timeline of 45k tweets. First off, we learn they're active about 14 hours a day:
They use an Android device and web browser to post tweets, pretty much all throughout the day, with a dip in browser usage in the afternoon. This suggests they have access to a laptop most of the day, unless they're using the Android web browser for some reason
They tweet most frequently during weekdays, with a lull on the weekend and particularly on Saturday
A more detailed analysis of daily tweet activity by month and year shows periods of time where they've been more active on weekends - for example, Sep and Oct 2020 suggest they barely took a break from tweeting each day (this period coincided with the Covid lockdown protests)
The account is hugely popular, as measured by engagement. In a little over 2 years it has amassed nearly 10 million likes, 1.8 million retweets, and over 600k replies. The average tweet gets 341 likes, 62 RTs, 5 quote tweets and 21 replies.
In terms of tweet content, they mostly talk about:
- Support for Premier Dan Andrews
- Criticism of the Liberal party (federal and state)
- Criticism of News Corp and journalistic bias
- Social justice issues (e.g. aged care and abuse)
- Advocacy for vaccines and lockdowns
Wordclouds are not the best visualisation but hey, I can't help myself. It does provide a bit more context about what the account tends to post about, as described above.
Aside from themselves, they mostly retweet @DanielAndrewsMP, followed by civil society pro-Labor and social justice advocates, progressive journalists and left-leaning newspapers such as @theage, and last but not least former Liberal PM @ScottMorrisonMP
I offer this analysis in the hope that it provides beneficial insights about a very influential yet controversial figure in #auspol. If nothing else, this analysis shows that the person (or people) controlling this account care deeply about social justice issues and...
... have resonated strongly with a large segment of the #auspol community, even if they've attracted criticism, abuse, and now of course a defamation lawsuit. I don't know who the owner is, but it's easy to see they've sacrificed an enormous amount of time advocating for...
... social justice issues and supporting Victorians on Twitter through unbearably difficult times during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly the account is partisan in its support for Labor and has a knack for harnessing and amplifying outrage culture. I suspect perhaps this is why...
... it has become such a divisive figure in #auspol and increasingly gained attention outside of the platform, too. Its success and impact undercuts the business model of people like Avi Yemini who weaponise outrage and convert fear and doubt into clout and donations.
The defamation case is deeply consequential for political discourse in Australia - I am troubled by it for various reasons, but let's see how it plays out over the coming weeks and months. Thanks for your time as always
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