Studies

Montclair Social Media Study: Guinness and St. Patrick’s Day are the Equivalent of the Fall Season and Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

*A study on brand sentiment around St. Patrick’s Day shows the iconic beer company dominates the conversation from the bar to the kitchen to the boardroom*

A new study released March 13 by a team of faculty from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University shows that Guinness was the most-discussed brand on social media leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, and not just in the traditional ways people share how they drink the popular beer brand.

While the Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s was another popular product discussed by social media users, the Guinness brand was highlighted in non-traditional ways related to the holiday, including cooking and recipes, Guinness chocolate, a new ad campaign with Aquaman star Jasom Momoa, and a partnership with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and the Joe Burrow Foundation.

“For Guinness, St. Patrick’s Day is probably as big as the Super Bowl,” said Dr. Jin-A Choi, Assistant Professor at Montclair and Director of Data Analytics for the Center for Strategic Communication. “The data clearly shows that Guinness is linked to St. Patrick’s Day, and it’s not a stretch to say that the brand ‘owns’ the holiday similar to how Starbucks and its Pumpkin Spice Latte dominate the conversation every fall season.”

The study, authored by Dr. Jin-A Choi, Dr. Yi Luo, and Dr. Bond Benton found the following data from 32,000 posts on X from February 1 to March 8:

• The volume of social media conversations related to Guinness beer and St. Patrick’s Day saw a 25% increase.
• Most social chats exhibited a happy mood as evidenced by a 62% joyful sentiment. Social media users raved about the fresh taste of Guinness, the drink’s “restorative power,” and even the brand’s new non-alcoholic beer, Guinness O.
• The term “Guinness brewery” enjoyed a 48% increase in mentions among social conversations since March 1.
• Over half of social posts (54%) centered around cooking with Guinness. Interestingly, individuals expressed their excitement of elevating the traditional holiday recipes with Guinness for celebration, adding this signature holiday drink to dishes such as Shepherd’s pie, drumsticks, muffins, bread, beef stew, beef roast, burger, marshmallows, or chocolate cakes.
• Among all social conversations related to Guinness and food, Guinness-flavored chocolate products witnessed the highest surge, with a 91% increase.
• Guinness also unveiled a new action-packed commercial featuring Jason Momoa, the Aquaman star, and his mother. The humorous short “Lovely Day” ad campaign was released on social platforms on March 7 and on television on March 11. The social chats mentioning “Jason Momoa” and “Guinness Ad” showed a 97% and 92% spike respectively, emerging as two of the most trending topics on social media.
• Since March 1, the term “Guinness gives back initiative” increased 59% due to the brand’s partnership with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and the Joe Burrow Foundation, as well as other community nonprofits (e.g., La Soupe) to address some dire social issues such as food insecurity and mental health. During this observation period, social chats acknowledged Guinness’s generous donation ($500K) to Joe Burrow Foundation and its participation in community events in collaboration with La Soupe to repurpose excess food to feed those in need.
• On March 5, the joy sentiment toward Guinness reached its high in a two-month period following the brand’s “Guinness Gives Back Initiative” event partnering with Joe Burrow Foundation and La Soupe Cincinnati on March 4, 2024.
• Interest in a similarly themed product for St. Patrick’s Day, McDonald’s “Shamrock Shake,” also spiked in the runup to the holiday, although results showed a mix in sentiment and less of a clear linkage to McDonald’s as a brand. The highest peak as St. Patrick’s Day approaches was not in March as expected, but on February 5, 2024, when McDonald’s announced that they have brought back the Shamrock shake on their menu along with the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry on February 5.
• While joy and excitement accounted for approximately 50% of the conversation surrounding the Shamrock Shake, about a quarter of the discussion showed emotions of “disgust.” From stomach aches to vomiting, social media users took to X to share their experience of trying the seasonal shake, especially the one from McDonald’s.

“The data shows social media users’ clear affinity for Guinness around St. Patrick’s Day and also reflects the brand’s commitment to connecting with consumers in non-traditional ways,” said Dr. Luo. “The company continues to engage consumers using a diverse PESO strategy (Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned media) and the impressive results across many topics related to the brand are apparent in the data.”

The full study, which can be found here, is the 15th from the Center of Strategic Communication, which provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.

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About the School of Communication and Media: Founded in 2012, the School of Communication and Media offers a range of dynamic programs in communication and media to a talented and diverse student population of over 1,800. Offering degrees in film and television, social media and public relations, advertising, journalism and digital media, sports communication, communication and media studies, animation and visual effects, and an MA in public and organizational relations, the School prepares the next generation of communication and media practitioners and leaders. The School houses award-winning student programs that include WMSC Radio, The Montclarion newspaper, Hawk Communications Agency, the Red Hawk Sports Network, Hawk+ OTT streaming platform, and News Lab, as well as the Center for Cooperative Media, which serves the public by working to grow and strengthen local journalism. Student projects and programs have recently received national recognition from PRSSA’s Bateman Competition, an Edward R Murrow Award, several Marconi Award nominations, and a College Television Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Media Contact: Keith Green, School of Communication and Media, 973-655-3701 or greenk@montclair.edu

Valentine’s Day 2024 Trends: Money Can Buy Love and Chocolates

“Joy” is the Dominant Emotion Found in the Social Media Data Analytics Study

To explore how social media users feel about Valentine’s Day and what consumers are buying leading up to February 14, a team of faculty from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University examined over 2 Million social media posts from February 1 – February 11.

The full study, which is found here, found that the conversations surrounding Valentine’s Day were dominated by emotions of joy (85%) and a bit of sadness (8%). “Love” and “relationships” emerged as prominent themes, emphasizing the importance of expressing love and appreciation through thoughtful and heartfelt gifts. The act of gift giving was accepted as an important gesture of love, especially to highlight positivity in chaotic world.

Additionally, the study authored by Dr. Jin-A Choi, Dr. Yi Luo and Dr. Bond Benton found the following:

• Commercial spending around Valentine’s Day this year is expected to reach a record $25.8 billion in the U.S. alone,with an average spending of approximately $185 per person. Chocolate, roses, and flowers were were the most popular gifts mentioned that will contribute to that record spending. 
• Related to that spending, “chocolate” is the most searched Valentine’s gift on Google above flowers, roses and jewelry. In the 118k social media mentions from February 1-11 2024, “chocolate” dominated a third of the social conversations, especially “chocolate
  covered strawberries” and a “box of chocolate”
• Social media users expressed positive sentiment 2.5 times more than negative sentiment on social discourse surrounding Valentine’s Day gift ideas. Echoing this positivity, an overwhelming 83% of the social media posts expressed joy explicitly regarding the act of gift giving.

Fittingly, this is the 14th study from the Center of Strategic Communication, which in addition its media-friendly social media studies, provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.

Montclair Study: Taylor Swift, Super Bowl and Social Media Conspiracy Theories Suggest Record Viewing and Online Chatter

Is Taylor Swift about to help set a record for Super Bowl ratings and overwhelm online discussion around the “Big Game?”

Based on a research study released on February 5 by a team of faculty from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University, the continuation of America’s most popular sport meeting the world’s most famous pop star seems destined to dominate the airwaves and social media next weekend.

“The Super Bowl always brings in a whole new audience because some people just come for the ads and halftime show while attending Super Bowl parties,” said Professor Kelly Whiteside who leads the Sports Communication program in the School of Communication and Media. “But now you are adding the biggest pop star on the planet, almost guaranteeing this will be the most watched Super Bowl of all time. It will not surprise me if the viewership record (114.12M) is broken by more than 10%.”

The study, authored by Dr. Yi Luo, Dr. Jin-A Choi, and Dr. Bond Benton, backs the theory that a sharp increase is likely. Data from the study includes:

• In the period when the Chiefs and 49ers advanced to Super Bowl LVIII, Taylor Swift related #superbowl posts on “X” (formerly known as Twitter) totaled more than the COMBINED number of posts about the game’s QB’s and even her beau, Travis Kelce. Total #superbowl posts generated in the period around and immediately after the AFC and NFC championship games resulted in 52,419 mentions for Purdy, 75,258 mentions for Mahomes, 91,325 mentions for Kelce, and an astounding 272,406 mentions of Swift in connection with the big game. For #superbowl tweets mentioning any of the four studied individuals, Swift mentions accounted for 63% of the total.
• The social mentions of Taylor Swift and Super Bowl reached 2 million in the seven-day period (January 28 – February 3, 2024) after Chiefs’ win on January 28 and sparked an 80% surge in social mentions compared to the previous seven days. Particularly, the conversation thread of “Taylor as a national treasure” increased 100% and is still gaining strength on social mentions.
• The social discussions on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship surged 490% since Chief’s AFC Championship victory on January 28. Tons of “Swiftie” fans shared their well wishes for the couple and demanded more coverage of their love story. Fans have also speculated about if/when Kelce will pop the question…perhaps after a potential Super Bowl win.
• Nearly 31,000 social posts (approximately 224% increase) in the past seven days speculated that Swift’s involvement with the Super Bowl could potentially boost ratings and interest in the event. This land-slide interest in Taylor Swift’s role in the NFL made lots of social media users predict that this year’s big game will be the “highest watched Super Bowl in history.”

Data related to conspiracy theories such as Swift being an ally of the Democratic Party, that the NFL playoff games were “rigged” to favor Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs, and that the Swift-Kelce relationship is a product of the “deep state,” are also examined in the study.

“Adding the ‘conspiracy theory’ factor to all this is like pouring gasoline on a rating’s fire that was already set to explode,” Dr. Luo said. “It will be fascinating to see how the numbers on and off the field shake out.” Dr. Choi stressed that “From deepfakes to politics, the ‘Taylor Swift effect’ is evident in our data. She holds unprecedented influence among Americans and her star power is expected to continue beyond this Super Bowl.”

The full study, which can be found here, is the 13^th from the Center of Strategic Communication, which provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.

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About the School of Communication and Media: Founded in 2012, the School of Communication and Media offers a range of dynamic programs in communication and media to a talented and diverse student population of over 1,800. Offering degrees in film and television, social media and public relations, advertising, journalism and digital media, sports communication, communication and media studies, animation and visual effects, and an MA in public and organizational relations, the School prepares the next generation of communication and media practitioners and leaders. The School houses award-winning student programs that include WMSC Radio, The Montclarion newspaper, Hawk Communications Agency, the Red Hawk Sports Network, Hawk+ OTT streaming platform, and News Lab, as well as the Center for Cooperative Media, which serves the public by working to grow and strengthen local journalism. Student projects and programs have recently received national recognition from PRSSA’s Bateman Competition, an Edward R Murrow Award, several Marconi Award nominations, and a College Television Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Media Contact: Keith Green, School of Communication and Media, 973-655-3701 or greenk@montclair.edu

Study: ‘Pizzagate’ Posts on X Spike Dramatically After Elon Musk Boosted the Conspiracy

Barbie Dominates the 2023 Halloween Costume Conversation on Social Media

 *A study of more than 46,000 Social Media Posts and a Google Trend Analysis finds Barbie costumes are res­­oundingly more popular than costumes for Ken, Star Wars and Marvel characters*

Move over, black and orange, and step aside for the color that is going to dominate Halloween this year, “Barbie Pink.” And yes, Ken, “it won’t matter what you do, you will always be number two,” at least when it comes to Halloween costumes in 2023. And those wildly popular Star Wars and Marvel character costumes traditionally seen during the “spookiest” time of the year? It seems they won’t match the popularity of the fictional character, Barbie, who reemerged this year on the pop culture scene after the incredible success of the Warner Bros. film “Barbie” released in July.

A team of faculty from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released its most recent study on October 26, with this one focusing on 2023 Halloween costume trends. Highlights from the study utilizing Brandwatch and Google Trends include:

• Google Trends offered the most popular costumes ranking through their “frightgeist,” highlighting key Halloween costume trends powered by searches. According to this frightgeist, Barbie is the most popular costume of the year for Americans.
• From October 1 to October 24, internet interest in Barbie costumes was 273.6% higher than activity for Ken costumes, according to the conducted Google Trends Analysis. Given the predictive nature of search interests on consumers’ purchasing intent and social behavior, the data implies that Barbie costumes will almost certainly be much more popular than Ken outfits. As was noted in Ryan Gosling’s song in the film, “doesn’t seem to matter what I do, I’m always number two.”
• From October 1 through October 24, a Google Trends analysis showed interest in Barbie costumes was 787.5% higher than activity for Marvel costumes and 545.4% higher than activity for Star Wars costumes, as indicated by the Google Trends Analysis. Like Ken, the trend analysis shows that this Halloween likely means more pink with fewer lightsabers and superhero capes.
• With more than 277,000 social media conversations observed around Halloween during October 1 through October 25, more than 30% of the conversations surrounded Halloween costumes. Of those conversations, more than 46,000 social media mentions discussing Barbie and Ken costumes were collected on Brandwatch, specifically. The co-occurrence “Barbie” and “popular Halloween costumes” among social conversations saw a steep 61% increase in October. Supporting Google’s data as the most searched costume of the year, social conversations on Barbie and Ken costumes revolved around the anticipation of Barbie and Ken being the best costumes for Halloween 2023, from where to get Barbie costumes, deciding which Barbie to be (e.g., Cowgirl Barbie), and anticipating celebrity couples to dress up as Barbie and Ken (e.g., Taylor and Kelce).
• Social Media users also enthusiastically shared their intention to dress as Barbie or Ken. Users gushed about the excitement of creating a “pink utopia” for this Halloween, which was specifically associated with key words such as “ridiculously fun,” “spirit,” “family-friendly,” “Barbieland,” “neighborhood coordination,” etc. With 48% of the conversation being contributed by males, there was excitement and sarcasm surrounding those dressing up as Ken.

“It seems that Barbie has successfully made a return in 2023, prevailing again at the pinnacle of popular culture. More than 46,000 social conversations in the month of October centered on Barbie and Ken costumes,” said Dr.  Jin-A Choi, assistant professor of Advertising at Montclair. “News outlets, brands, and events were keen to seize this opportunity during this Halloween season to use Barbie and Ken as keywords and hashtags to jump aboard the hottest Halloween trend and enhance the visibility of their messages.”

“Barbie, once an arcane hobby, has torpedoed all other traditionally favored Halloween costumes, such as princess, spider-man, witch, batman, fairy, vampire, or ninja,” noted Dr. Yi Luo, Associate Professor in Strategic Communication at Montclair. “Especially, the association between pink and Barbie has been exponentially amplified through online searches and discussions on social channels.”

The study was conducted by faculty Dr. Jin-A Choi, Dr. Yi Luo and Dr. Bond Benton. It is the tenth study released from the School’s Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication, which provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Relationship Drives Spike in Social Media Conversation During Sunday Night Football 

On October 2, a team of faculty from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released a study analyzing social media data during last evening’s NFL primetime game between the host New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. The game took on more significance early in the season due to an evolving relationship between pop icon Taylor Swift and Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce that has dominated the social media conversation since Swift attended a Chiefs home game on Sept. 24.

The full study can be found here, but highlights from the study utilizing Brandwatch, Tweetbinder and Google Trends from the School’s Center for Strategic Communication include:

• Initial analysis conducted on X (formerly Twitter) shows that as the game began, there was a 118% increase in mentions of Swift-Kelce over the previous seven-day period. Platform activity showed a surprisingly low decrease in continued activity after the game with activity at midnight EST remaining greater than the highest total of Swift-Kelce tweets in the previous seven days.
• Data suggests that there were consistent attempts to hijack discussion during the game with political statements about vaccination and the perceived political stances of Swift and Kelce. The period of the game brought a 1941% increase in content politicizing the Swift-Kelce relationship. While such instances of “hate jacking” are increasingly common in social media spaces, this particular event appears to have hate content largely drowned out by sentiment that was supportive and positive.
• Despite this and other notable divisive content occurring on social media during the game, sentiment remained largely positive towards the Kelce/Swift connection. Data analysis from posts on X shows that people were more than four times as likely to express positive sentiment than negative sentiment (82% positive content posted compared to only 18% negative).
• When Swift appeared on the NBC broadcast during the game, social media chatter spiked considerably after Kelce’s first catch (8:25 p.m. EST), after a Chiefs touchdown (8:39 p.m.), after a Jets punt (8:47 p.m.), at the end of the third quarter (10:40 p.m.) and the conclusion of the game at 11:18 p.m. A graph is linked in the full study below.
• The study was conducted by faculty Dr. Bond Benton, Dr. Yi Luo, and Dr. Jin-A Choi and Professor Kelly Whiteside.

2023 Pumpkin Spice Study

On September 28, 2023, our team from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released a new study examining 2023 conversations, trends and sentiment on social media about pumpkin spice. Starbucks, which is often credited with popularizing the fall flavor by launching its Pumpkin Spice Latte 20 years ago, still dominates the social media conversation despite copycat beverages and spawning products in bizarre categories that make pumpkin spice polarizing every late summer and early fall.

Highlights from the study from the School’s Center for Strategic Communication include:

• Combing through more than 21,000 social posts from August 27 to September 25, 2023, the Montclair team discovered 45% of social media users feeling positive about pumpkin spice, with only 5% feeling negative. The remaining 50% of the posts were deemed neutral.
• Further, specific emotions included excitement, anger and even mockery of the flavor.
• Seemingly, there are almost no categorical or product boundaries when it comes to pumpkin spice, as trash bags, engagement rings, caviar, tobacco, body wipes and a non-alcoholic dog brew are among the new products this season.
• Pumpkin spice sales are still on the rise – $802.5 million worth of pumpkin spice products were sold in 2022, up 42% from sales in 2019.
• Starbucks continues to dominate the realm of pumpkin spice coffee drinks. Specifically, when people search for PSL, they mean a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. When searching for “PSL,” 72% of people searched “Starbucks” specifically.
• Additionally, 52% of people searched for Starbucks when searching for “pumpkin spice latte” as opposed to Wendy’s (8%), Dunkin’ (4%) and Dutch Bros (4%).
• The team also found that social conversations around the term spiked over 100% on the first day Starbucks released its fall drinks on August 24.
• Large household brands continue to jump into the pumpkin spice trend, such as Wendy’s pumpkins spice frosty and Dunkin’s Ice Spice MUNCHKINS drink, a blend of pumpkin munchkins and frozen Dunkin’ Coffee.
• The study was released prior to National Pumpkin Spice Day on Sunday. Oct. 1. A press release about the study is here and the full study is here.

Montclair Social Media Study Finds Overwhelming Increase in Sadness and Disgust from SCOTUS Rulings 

A new study released on July 6, 2023 by the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University examined social media reaction to two historic rulings last week by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

The study examined more than 150,000 posts between June 27 and July 3 on major social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and Twitter. The research team utilized search queries to discover how social media users in the U.S. reacted to the separate, landmark rulings regarding Affirmative Action and Student Loan Forgiveness. A press release about the study can be found here.

Study: 80%+ of the Buffalo Shooter Manifesto Copied Directly from Hate Sites Raising Concerns about Internet Dangers

A new study summarized here from Montclair Justice Studies professor Dr. Daniela Peterka-Benton and Dr. Bond Benton of the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media demonstrates the extent to which Buffalo Shooter Payton Gendron’s manifesto was derived from hate content he consumed online.  His highly planned attack on May 14, 2022 at a Buffalo, NY supermarket focused on the killing of African Americans and left 13 people dead. Understanding what motivated such a hateful attack was a focus of the research.

Specifically, the study showed over 80% of the visual and written content of the rationale sections of the manifesto came from extremist spaces he reported visiting.  The full study can be found in the Journal for Deradicalization.

Valentine’s Day Study: Does the Over-Commercialization of Valentine’s Day on Social Media Leave Us Living in a Sadder, Material World?

New research from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication at Montclair State University found that the commercialization of Valentine’s Day is more prevalent than ever, and that might not be a good thing.

To investigate the themes of Valentine’s Day messaging in social media, researchers from Montclair’s Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication analyzed over 80,000 posts using #Valentinesday and #Valentinesday2023 on various social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram over a one-month period. The full study is found Montclair State 2023 Valentine’s Day Commercialization Study, but highlights of the findings released on February 13, 2023 include:

• Through analysis of a social media dataset using “Valentine’s Day” as a keyword, the most associated term was “shop”, with “shop” and “gift” identified 131.17% more frequently than the term “love.”
• The commercialization of Valentine’s Day and its cultural construction as the linkage between romantic authenticity and market participation appears to have created a context that creates significant mental health challenges. The notion of “noble love” has, in many ways, been replaced by the commercialization of messaging associated with the holiday.
• Interestingly, among the Valentine’s Day social messages targeted toward singles, the popular hashtags included “#selflove,” “selfcare,” “valentinesgift,” “#chocolate day,” “#roseday. Particularly, supportive messages encouraged singles to focus on setting healthy boundaries, focusing on mental health, prioritizing personal goals, launching positive changes, seeking love from friends and families, purchasing personal dreams, learning strategies to manage loneliness, seeking balance by turning inward, staying physically active, etc.
• Media literacy and the ability to unpack manipulative online content should be a focus for all populations with a significant emphasis on Gen Z (Micu and Coulter 2012). The monetization of problematic messaging is noted as a function of social media (Center for Countering Digital Hate, 2021).  The coupling of love with commoditization for a holiday as seemingly benign as Valentine’s Day is indicative of the need for continued vigilance against acceptance of online messaging as being rooted in truth and legitimacy.

Study on Spike in “Grooming” Terms on Twitter After Colorado Springs Tragedy

A new study released on November 28 by the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University points to what hate speech on Twitter could look like following Elon Musk’s offer of “general amnesty” to suspended accounts on the platform.

Specifically, the study showed a dramatic spike in the use of the term “grooming” (a slur used against the LGBTQ+ community) on Twitter in the period after the shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 19-20. The full study can be found here.

FIFA World Cup Studies

Leading up to the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on November 20, our team from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released separate studies surrounding the controversial tournament, one on boycotting and activism and another highlighting popular players, teams, brands and trends.

Twitter Hate Speech Study After Musk’s Acquisition

On October 29, 2022, our team from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released a study on the increase in hate speech on Twitter in the hours immediately after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform, a transaction that created the perception by extremist users that content restrictions would be alleviated.

Highlights from the study from the School’s Center for Strategic Communication include:

• The seven-day average of Tweets using the studied hate terms prior to Musk’s acquisition was never higher than 84 times per hour.
• However, on October 28 from midnight to noon (immediately following Musk’s acquisition), the studied hate speech was Tweeted some 4,778 times.
• Terms studied included vulgar and hostile terms for individuals based on race, religion, ethnicity, and orientation.
• The potential impact of this hate speech (the potential number of times a term posted in Twitter could have been viewed) was more than 3 million.
• Elon Musk has promised to reduce restrictions on the platform and “free the bird.” From these results, this directive represents an obvious danger to young people using the platform.
• Platforms with lax or no moderation are frequently spaces filled with racism, homophobia, transphobia, and antisemitism.
• Recorded data indicating the spike in hate speech.
• The entire study can be found here: Montclair State SCM Study- Increases in Twitter Hate Speech After Elon Musk’s Acquisition

Pumpkin Spice Study

On September 29, 2022, our team from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released research that found despite what the skeptics say, Americans still really love pumpkin spice and can’t get enough of pumpkin spice foods, beverages and products.

Montclair State SCM Pumpkin Spice Study

Combing through nearly 20,000 Twitter and Instagram posts from September 2022, the Montclair team of faculty and graduate student researchers discovered that 55% of posts containing “pumpkin spice” or the hashtag #pumpkinspice were positive in nature, 8% were negative and 37% were deemed neutral. There’s no sign of the pumpkin spice latte (PSL) love dying down, either. In fact, according to Google Trends, the popular fall flavor is on pace to create more internet activity this year than ever before.

The buzz around pumpkin spice initially peaked in 2017-18 and fell slightly as a trend in the following years. But current data suggests that this year is on pace to far surpass the 2017-18 peak, meaning the seasonal star is back. Big time.“The power of pumpkin and pumpkin spice are clear in the data,” said Jin-A Choi, assistant professor of Advertising at Montclair. “While many assume the topic is polarizing, the majority of the social media data we analyzed showed that America and a wide range of companies continue to want more pumpkin spice.”The trending topic has also prompted brands and businesses unrelated to the fall flavor to use the #pumpkinspice hashtag to sell or drive interest in their products – a phenomenon known as “trendjacking.” The upside? About 2% of evaluated trendjacking posts were linked to social causes, such as dog adoption shelters.