Thread by @3r1nG

Here's the user-to-user graph for 13,537 #Portland tweets from Aug 15 to Aug 18 (today). This graph is telling, it's split almost in half. Top quadrants are lefty accounts and the bottom are right wing MAGA accounts. #PDXData

You can really see the split in the pre-render screen of @Gephi. The only area that seems semi-connected to both disparate halves is this tweet that tagged the Portland Police and the The Oregon Museum of Science with several related hashtags and created that light blue pattern.

The giant purple cluster in the bottom half is notable. I've previously documented MAGA accounts which always tweet at very high volumes (including hundreds of retweets) and some of those accounts are present in the purple cluster.

https://twitter.com/3r1nG/status/1087077553863618566

This tweet is why ConservaMomUSA's node is so large here. She's also tweeted over 300 tweets (and retweets) per day for the past week. Here's a sample of her most used hashtags (via @accountanalysis & @socialbearing: socialbearing.com/search/user/co…)

Jali_Cat is also a high volume MAGA account, she has tweeted 200-400 tweets (and retweets) per day for the past week. Here's a sample of her most used hashtags (via @accountanalysis & @socialbearing: socialbearing.com/search/user/Ja…)

Now before you call them "bots" - I do not believe these are automated accounts. I've documented similar accounts before in QAnon trends and they were real humans. But it's important to understand how these super tweeters affect information diffusion:

https://twitter.com/3r1nG/status/1027747008310857733

So let's compare the influencers in the top quadrant. RVAWonk tweets at a fairly normal pace. Her daily volume varies (probably depending on the news cycle) and she's not spamming partisan hashtags hundreds of times per day. Stats via @accountanalysis & socialbearing.com/search/user/RV…

IGD_News is the second largest node in the top half. They normally average between 25-60 tweets per day but yesterday ramped up because of the news cycle. Their tweet schedule varies and they don't spam partisan hashtags hundreds of times per day.

People want there to be an equal amount of partisan shenanigans on "both sides" but it's just not true. I've occasionally found liberal high volume accounts,
I tweet about them when I find them. They are usually poorly executed:

https://twitter.com/3r1nG/status/1034846816297263110

Several times over the past few years I've even re-evaluated what I consider to be "high volume" accounts. Activists can sometimes tweet (and RT) 85-100+ tweets per day depending on the news cycle. But that pace is not maintained 24/7/365. They take breaks, their activity varies.

But the network of high volume MAGA spammers exists only on the right and they constantly amplify *the worst* trends. And right wing social media personalities wield tremendous influence to shape public perception.

https://twitter.com/3r1nG/status/1009030975047831553

There is no equivalent on the left.