Localspeak

The Movement of Social Media

29 September 2011

Social outcry regarding the global economic meltdown now can be heard on the streets of New York City’s Financial District (FiDi). And yet, while key international press including The Guardian UK and online media as the Huffington Post have begun to take notice, U.S. media, for the large part, have seemed to ignore the roar of the crowd. Emblematic of this U.S. news blackout was the September 18th front page story of the New York Times— the imminent demise of the local Ray’s Pizza chain—the day after the protests began.

The true lack of coverage in our national press took me back to my own pre-Internet student days, a time when I followed many of the world movements. To unearth whatever I could on the world movements in the 1970s, I was forced to dig through the New York Public Library archives to unearth news of the social movements that were unfolding on the streets of Chile, France, and Mexico, and then attempt to filter the news bias in the languages I was able to translate. Today, I am able to utilize social media analytics tools to gain unbiased coverage in real time and to track authentic sentiment and emotion perception trends— across the globe and under my own Wall Street window.

New Yorkers like me who both work and live in the FiDi neighborhood are experiencing first-hand the street theater. Prompted by a public movement called “Occupy Wall Street” protesting corporate greed and social inequity, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the New York Police Department ( NYPD ) to erect a phalanx of physical barricades, effectively confining local residents and businesses who, in an already high-security pedestrian zone, are being forced to walk the gauntlet-like narrow corridor of Wall Street to enter or leave the neighborhood.

Like clockwork, even as I write this blog at the closing bell of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Occupy Wall Street protesters— who describe themselves as over-educated/under-employed—fill the neighborhood streets just as they do at the morning’s opening bell, but at the decibel level of a marching band. And demonstration organizers (Ad Busters and Anonymous) have stated their intention to continue to demonstrate indefinitely in the area.

Historic downtown Manhattan, like most all of New York City, is densely populated with a mix of business and residential citizens who, on any given day, walk the narrow cobblestone streets unfettered and undeterred by the sea of humanity. But with social tension escalating, I decided it was time to take a barometric reading of the movement with our social media analytics tool. Given the virtual news blackout until recently, I wanted to see just how local and vocal the movement had become in social media and then measure local perception trends to understand reasons behind the passionate outcry, now in its second week.

Net Sentiment Trend – Occupy Wall Street Social Protest – September 15-29

Attesting to the sudden rise is social outcry is this month’s steep climb in social buzz and divided sentiment and public perceptions, which we are monitoring on our NetBase social media analytics tool Insights Workbench . What’s behind the divided public sentiment? Despite the logistical hassle to locals, social sentiment over the movement is divided and chatter is on the rise.

Social Conversation Drivers Positive – Occupy Wall Street September 12-28

Rich Storytelling

To date, hundreds of thousands of people have turned to YouTube to view the growing number of viral video stories being posted there. Many of these videos, which have been produced from the streets, continue to spread virally with an overwhelming number accounting for the positive sentiment reflected in our social analysis.

• YouTube video spread wildly, with the commentator noting the NYPD invoked the old 166 law prohibiting more than one masked protester to gather in the same vicinity unless it’s a masquerade party. There are many other live streams from the daily protests also posted online including , , by some 5,000 people, and which features interviews with the impassioned protesters who are camped out downtown.

• Current TV’s Keith Olbermann also called out the , and today he will interview filmmaker Michael Moore, who has joined the movement.

Social Conversation Drivers Negative – Occupy Wall Street September 28

Negative Sentiment

Many of the negative social sentiment posts are critical of the NYPD retributions against protesters. Although our Workbench Insights tool enables us to switch a sentiment from negative to positive, in the above chart we have left “omen of future action” in the chart to illustrate the ability of a robust NLP engine to facilitate sentiment tweaking when warranted. However, in our net sentiment trend chart we changed the sentiment from negative to positive. In truth, the “omen of future action” sentiment reflects the re-tweeting of Twitter posts from a Canadian blogger evoking Bob Dylan’s 1964 epic song The Times They Are A-Changing.

Insights

• Storytelling is a powerful tool.
• The story is at our New York City doorsteps, literally.
• Engagement with other people, ideas, or a material object can be measured in real-time and can yield authentic, unbiased, unprompted sentiment.
• Social media has replaced bias reporting and censorship.
• We live in a more authentic world.

Recommendations

• Local and national press corps: Listening therapy is a good thing. So is Social Media Research: the story is unfolding without you.
• Mayor Bloomberg: A consultation with Bloomberg Media Social Media Insights Research Team would be advisable.
• FiDi Neighbors: Patience, please. This is a peaceful gathering with an inalienable right to be heard.