Thread by @joyopal

As @Twitter & @WhatsApp tussle with India continues, we examined tweets on #CongressToolkit to understand the trigger event.

We find systematic tweeting, involving several key leaders. Fun find, while @sambitswaraj was center of controversy, his wasn't the firestarter

1/4

On May 18, tweeting #CongressToolkit started systematically before dawn. In first 10 hrs 65 tweets from BJP leaders w/ over 500k followers had circulated, over 1000 influencers w/over 5k followers had amplified the message.

2/4

Twitter handles with 15k or more followers were key to amplifying the message, this is a tactic seen across other online campaigns. Several of these handles are extremely influential.

Of the 10 most active in promoting #CongressToolkit ALL were followed by @narendramodi

Day 2, May 19, campaign lost some momentum, there was limited press coverage, as pointed out by BJP influencers. At this point, the story got new traction through systematic targeting of Saumya Verma and Rajeev Gowda.

Overall, the most important influencers of the campaign was @Tejasvi_Surya

👏 @GroverRynaa for excellent data work

Full report here:
joyojeet.people.si.umich.edu/congresstoolki…