We downloaded recent content from 151 US city subreddits (Reddit forums), three from each state plus Washington DC, and ran sentiment analysis on the content. This map shows each city colored by the percentage of posts/comments with negative sentiment scores.
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
@ZellaQuixote Here's the same data in table form. In general, the larger cities had a higher proportion of negative comments, but there are outliers. (Atlanta, for example, has relatively little negative traffic.)
@ZellaQuixote We'll be amending this thread periodically as we try more things with the dataset. Stay tuned.
@ZellaQuixote Which 2020 Democratic presidential candidates come up most frequently on US city subreddits? @BernieSanders, followed by @ewarren and @KamalaHarris. Less frequent mentions include @JoeBiden, @AndrewYang, and @TulsiGabbard.
@ZellaQuixote @BernieSanders @ewarren @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden @AndrewYang @TulsiGabbard Some Reddit users get around. Take JohnKimble111, who has recently posted or commented in 38 of the 151 US city subreddits we analyzed, and posts about UK politics too. Content is right-wing and arguably propaganda. Can we find other accounts pushing an agenda in multiple cities?
@ZellaQuixote @BernieSanders @ewarren @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden @AndrewYang @TulsiGabbard 86 accounts have recently posted or commented in at least 10 of the 151 US city subreddits included in our analysis. Many are bots (mostly fun or utilitarian in nature), but nine human-seeming accounts pushing political agendas (both left and right) also turned up.
@ZellaQuixote @BernieSanders @ewarren @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden @AndrewYang @TulsiGabbard Here are some more examples of the right-wing accounts posting in multiple city subreddits. A common tactic is to submit news articles consistent with the account's agenda, and the interject opinions and trolling in the comments section.
@ZellaQuixote @BernieSanders @ewarren @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden @AndrewYang @TulsiGabbard Some parallel examples from left-wing accounts. Tactics are similar; link media in multiply city forums that matches the account's narratives, and then push the agenda further when people comment.
@ZellaQuixote @BernieSanders @ewarren @KamalaHarris @JoeBiden @AndrewYang @TulsiGabbard What do the accounts that push political agendas in multiple city subreddits talk about? The left-wing ones focus on political figures; Trump, various candidates (Gabbard is an outsized presence in our sample.) The right-wing accounts are mostly race-focused provocateurs.
