You can’t be online and not notice certain trends in social media, blogs and news articles during certain periods. For example, posts about Game of Thrones will rise from the day a new episode is aired, or buzz about movies nominated for Academy Awards will flood our timelines from January until February.
Whether the topic in question is an interest of yours or not, you will undoubtedly see posts about whatever is current in pop culture at that time. The most recent prominent topic in the media is the release of Taylor Swift’s new single, Look What You Made Me Do.
There have been tonnes of posts discussing the song and music videos (yes, music videos) as well as the upcoming release of Taylor’s new album. But one of the most popular topics has centred around the ongoing feud between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, particularly Perry releasing her Swish Swish music video just one day after Swift announced the release date of her new album. The general consensus is that this was done out of spite to claim the spotlight. So, I decided to do an analysis of online conversation about the two pop stars to see exactly who is dominating the internet in 2017.
Post Sources
The most popular platform for both artists in 2017 so far has been Twitter, followed by Instagram and then Tumblr. The majority of posts about Katy Perry stem from Twitter, however, the majority of Taylor Swift-related posts are split between Twitter and Instagram. Tumblr is a particularly popular social platform for Taylor Swift, accounting for 14% of volumes.
Sentiment: Good or Bad Publicity
Sentiment speaks to whether or not the mentions are favourable or negative. Taylor Swift received 2% more negative mentions compared to Katy Perry, however, Taylor Swift received 13% more positivity than Katy Perry. This is surprising considering the general perception that Taylor Swift is hated by so many. You can thank popular websites and blogs for using click-bait headlines and articles with thin arguments for this dramatisation. Regardless, there is certainly negativity about Taylor and if you’ve heard Look What You Made Me Do, you’ll see she’s using it to her advantage. But, who’s winning the online conversation battle?
Online Volumes
From January to July, Katy Perry dominated online conversation. However, after a drastic increase in online buzz in August, Taylor Swift claimed first place and is dominating online conversation.
From the beginning of the year until 27 August 2017, Katy Perry was mentioned 25 million times and Taylor Swift received 31 million mentions – 24% more posts than Katy Perry. 70% of posts about Taylor for the year so far took place in August.
Conversation for Katy Perry spiked on 13 February due to talk of her performance of Chained to the Rhythm at the 2017 Grammy Awards. Volumes for Taylor Swift peaked at a remarkable 1.7 million in August on the day her lyrics music video for Look What You Made Me Do dropped. This is a difference of 190% from Katy’s highest day. In addition, Taylor’s lyric music video has been viewed more times than Swish Swish.
Conclusion
The battle to stay current in today’s times has become increasingly difficult. Public figures often have to resort to publicity stunts to get attention and sometimes that means throwing shade at other artists. While Katy may have generated a lot of hype releasing her video just before Taylor did, Taylor Swift is killing it and is arguably the most relevant pop star at the moment. Let’s see who will claim the overall title by the end of the year.
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