Happy New Year!
It's official, 2015 is here yet there are still no signs of a hoverboard. Sure it's disappointing, but look at it this way, the world doesn't stop, the news keeps chugging along, and we've got a whole lot of social data just waiting for us to analyze!
Let's take a look at social data from top stories this week.
Air travel breaking news
This week has been a scary and sad one for aviation.
On Sunday morning it was reported that AirAsia Flight QZ8501 went missing between Indonesia and Singapore. Many people took to social media, specifically Twitter, for the latest news and to express wishes and prayers.
Since Sunday, we have seen more than 980,000 mentions of Flight QZ8501.
The most used hashtags have included #QZ8501 (660,000+ mentions) and #AirAsia (377,000+ mentions). Additionally, we have also seen #PrayForQZ8501 (15,000+ mentions) and #PrayForAirAsia (14,000+ mentions) as two of the most used hashtags.
On Twitter, there were more than 9,500 mentions of the :( emoticon (sad face) and more than 1,300 mentions of the :'( emoticon (crying). While there are plenty of articles and consumer speculation that all the social media sharing and posting is ruining communication and relationships, when an emotional or tragic event occurs people take to social platforms to express love and well wishes.
It's not just all about the customer service rant. The speed and ease of sharing vital information from around the world can be seen as far outweighing the possible detriment to communications.
On Monday, a Virgin Atlantic (VS43) flight was on its way from Gatwick airport in England to Las Vegas, when the pilot had to unexpectedly return to Gatwick when one of the undercarriage wheels got stuck after take-off. There were more than 40,000 mentions of VS43 since Monday.
We saw the most mentions of the incident between 3 and 4 p.m. (GMT) after the plane successfully landed.
The most popular Tweet came from Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, when he tweeted the (his) airline thanking the pilots and team for their safe and skillful landing. Branson's Tweet has received more than 1,300 retweets.
Neverending Serial: Jay Breaks His Silence
Even though the first season of the "Serial" podcast has come to an end, the intrigue around the story itself hasn't waned.
Since our last social media update on the podcast, we have seen more than 684,000 mentions of "Serial." Conversations have continued and saw an increase this week when key witness, Jay Wilds, broke his silence and granted The Intercept an exclusive interview.
In the interview series reported by Natasha Vargas-Cooper, Jay explained that he agreed to be interviewed because he wanted to clear his name and was not happy with the way Sarah Koenig portrayed him in the "Serial" podcast.
We have seen more than 4,300 mentions of Jay's interview. The most discussed topics have included "Jay from Serial" (1,900+ mentions), "interviewed Jay" (1,600+ mentions), and "Intercept" (800+ mentions).
NFL Black Monday
The holiday season, especially if you're in the retail business, is all about Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. For sports fans, specifically NFL fans, Black Monday is the day of reckoning and changes.
This week, the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and the New York Jets decided to fire their head coaches, the San Francisco 49ers and head coach Jim Harbaugh mutually parted ways.
We have been tracking the social conversation with Brandwatch over the past week and have seen nearly 16,000 mentions of Black Monday.
Of the teams that had coaches and GM's in the hot seat, we saw that the New York Jets received the most mentions with firing of head coach Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik.
New York Jets: nearly 3,000 mentions
Chicago Bears: 2,500+ mentions
Atlanta Falcons: 2,400+ mentions
San Francisco 49ers: nearly 1,00 mentions
Washington Redskins: 200+ mentions
Oakland Raiders: 150+ mentions
"That's So Throwback"
Dreams really do come true, for Disney Channel fans that is.
Who could forget the great original programming from Disney in the early 2000's? It's where actors like Hilary Duff, Shia LaBeouf, and Raven Symone became household names. ABC Family tapped into that nostalgia and decided to grant Disney show fans one last holiday wish to experience their favorite childhood shows again.
This week, ABC Family aired the "That's So Throwback" marathon. Every night at midnight fans were able to watch old episodes of Lizzie McGuire, That's So Raven, Even Stevens, as well as the Cheetah Girls and Halloweentown movies.
There have been more than 43,000 mentions of the marathon. Mentions spiked at midnight on December 30 when episodes of Lizzie McGuire aired on the channel. Former Disney star herself, Hilary Duff, drove engagement around the show when she tweeted that she was watching the episodes, her tweet received more than 6,400 retweets.
Most of those tweeting about the "That's So Throwback" marathon are women, with an 84% share of voice.
The most mentions of those watching the marathon have come from Texas (1,000+ mentions), California (900+ mentions), and New York (800+ mentions).
Let's do this 2015!
As we welcome 2015 we will be keeping a close eye for viral campaigns and industry news. Award season kicks off in a matter of weeks, the SuperBowl is around the corner, and we're poised and ready to untangle the massive web of conversations and insights from the social media universe.
Not leaving 2014 in the dust, we wanted to share this recap we loved from our daily favorite, TheSkimm, which compiled the biggest news stories they skimm'd in 2014.
We've also collaborated with Text100 on a research project for CES 2015. Get ready for the International Consumer Electronics Show 2015 extravaganza, otherwise known as techie palooza when thousands of companies unveil new innovations and a hefty chunk of their 2015 product lineup.
Brandwatch Chief Marketing Officer, Will McInnes, recently wrote an article for TWICE about the impact of social listening and how consumer electronics brands can't rely on endorsements or predictable releases. Just in time for CES, this piece pinpoints the specific benefits of social listening for tech brands.
If you have any questions or are interested in learning more about Brandwatch or social data, leave a comment!