From FIFA to three more candidates jumping into the US presidential pool, lots of stories have been getting the social media world abuzz this week.
We thought we wouldn't have to hear about FIFA for another three years following last year's World Cup in Brazil, but rumors of corruption have blown the floodgates wide open as the truth pours out. We've also made sure to keep a running tab on who's winning the social media race as we get closer and closer to the 2016 US presidential elections and have the update on that neck-in-neck conversation.
When it comes to brands, #ItsMillerTime is an iconic slogan, and has been trending on Twitter all week.
Let's talk social data for these top trending stories of the week, and many more.
FIFA Scandal Erupts, and the Internet with it
As news of the FIFA scandal broke, fanatics and news organizations alike took to the internet to share information and voice their opinions. We've seen more than 400,000 online mentions surrounding the events.
Twitter dominated the conversation, with 92.6% of all social media mentions, and Tweeters in the United States led the convo, contributing 52% of the overall discussion. The United Kingdom was hardly quiet as they contributed 17% to the matter. Lastly, men were largely more vocal as they comprised 77% of all unique Twitter authors chatting about the FIFA scandal.
As blame was being distributed, many Twitter users looked to Sepp Blatter, the current FIFA president, as a major problem as #BlatterOut and #Blatter were among the top 10 hashtags mentioned in the conversation.
Here's a look at the most mentioned topics on social media about the FIFA scandal. Blatter dominates as well as mentions of corruption in various uses within phrases and topics.
The Presidential Crowd Gets More Crowded
Three more candidates have thrown their hats in the ring, and boy is it getting unbearably crowded in the nearly-begun race for US president. We're still a long ways away from things really heating up in the political arena for the next leader of the free world, and social media climate is telling us quite a bit about who is dominating the conversation.
Conversation about Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders met in the middle on May 27, as volume of Twitter conversation about Hillary slowed and Bernie officially said he's in.
Leading the democratic party conversation are Hillary and Bernie, while other potentials such as Jim Webb, Lincoln Chafee, and Martin O'Malley don't stand a social chance when it comes to dominating share of voice and minds of Twitter users.
On the other side of the ticket, the republicans have a lot of hands in the honey pot. Leading the Twitter conversation is newly announced candidate Rick Santorum, along with Lindsey Graham followed closely by Ted Cruz.
When looking at the entire conversation (including all mentions we are listening to about every candidate including the three most recently announced ones), the top ten hashtags show that Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, and Bernie Sanders are absolutely leading the pack in terms of volume of mentions in hashtags as well as Twitter impressions.
What's interesting is we see that #joshduggar is a top ten hashtag in the overall 2016 US presidential election candidate conversation in Twitter.
At first glance, the data seemed to suggest that this was a major topic within this conversation because of Rick Santorum's public dismissal of the Josh Duggar sexual abuse story, saying he was "sickened" by it. But there are only about 2,100 mentions on Twitter of Santorum's in conjunction with Josh Duggar. Meanwhile, there are over 21,000 mentions of Mike Huckabee discussing him "defending" or "backing" Josh Duggar.
An ode to a beautiful mind
This week, the world lost a truly beautiful mind - in more ways than one. Mathematician and real-life basis for the film A Beautiful Mind, John Nash, passed away in a car accident in New Jersey. Twitter played host to over 66,000 tweets as users took to the platform to send their thoughts and prayers.
Peak mentions occurred at 9 a.m. EST, as users remembered the man who inspired a movie.
As is the case with many scientists, educators, and intellectuals, they are remembered most for a pop culture depiction of their amazing work, the type of work that makes the world innovate and progress. The movie "A Beautiful Mind" based on Nash's life was heavily mentioned and a significantly popular topic in the discussion on social media about this wonderful man's untimely passing.
Ireland is Gay-Ok!
Marriage-equality and its advocates saw a major victory this week as Ireland became the first nation to legalize same-sex marriage through popular vote. With Twitter receiving just south of 200,000 tweets around the topic, the messages that soared above the rest were those of pure positivity, with #Equality, #yesequality and #NoH8 making their way into the top ten hashtags.
When it comes to where the conversation dominated, surprisingly US Tweeters held a majority 53% of the conversation on Twitter, with the UK holding 14% and Ireland just 5%. Given the skewed numbers of population in general and the volume of people on Twitter in the US compared to other nations, maybe it isn't all that surprising.
#ItsMillerTime
Do you know what time it is? Miller Lite and their consumers do. With summer just around the bend, Miller Lite has taken to Twitter to host a mini-new awards show where they'll give away prizes to people who use the hashtag #ItsMillerTime.
Twitter has seen over 8,000 mentions so far, and you might wonder who are the biggest Miller Lite fans. We did too. According to our Twitter demographics, they would be Artists and Executives as those two professions have contributed the most to the conversation on Twitter.
This conversation is all about the guys, and when looking at the most mentioned topics as broken down by which gender is Tweeting about it, actually "Drinking a Miller Lite" or being vocal about "MILLER TIME BABY" (and aggressive with those shouting all caps), the males dominated. Mostly, females exclusively discussed "Eating a grilled cheese" in conjunction with Miller Time.
That's not a bad idea for a food and bev combo...
Soylent Green is...
The new techie/coder diet sweeping the internet's mind grapes.
If you work so much that you can't eat, you might want to reconsider your career, or try Soylent (not to be confused with "Soylent Green" the creepy futuristic film and dietary product of the 1973 film of the same name).
It's a protein shake mix that's making the rounds in Silicon Valley. But how popular is Soylent and its contemporaries? Well, it's garnered over 1,600 Twitter mentions, and that's just this specific brand. Judging by hashtags like #Schmilk and #SiliconValley, it's safe to say that Soylent, and the like, are here to stay.
The majority of the conversation is coming from the tech hub of the world, Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
When we looked at the broader conversation we can see that the Tri-State area and Los Angeles, as well as Miami and Chicago have been contributing to the Soylent convo as well.
Next in social data
Brandwatch recently published free Restaurants, Food and Beverage Industry Report, which looked at the top 50 brands in the industry in an in-depth social index. Included in the study is also a revealing state-by-state US alcohol preference map that had CNBC intrigued.
Summer travel, sporting events, and music festivals (Governor's Ball is taking over New York City next weekend and I'm personally excited to see Charli XCX and Florence and the Machine) around the world are just about to get underway. We'll be closely tracking the trending stories and news online to bring you the latest in social data every week.
Interested in learning more about social listening and data, have a suggestion for a trending social news story, or have a question for Brandwatch? Visit us here or email me, [email protected]!