The Death of Hugo Chavez An Analysis of the Social Media Reac;on March 6, 2013 PurpleStrategies.com P: 703.548.7877 Methodology •  We set out to determine how the news of Hugo Chavez’s death and the narra;ves about him spread online •  We examined all online conversa;on men;oning Chavez in either English or Spanish from the past month, with a par;cular focus on the last 48 hours •  Conversa;on sources include social networks like TwiIer and Facebook, blogs and forums, mainstream news sites, and online comment sec;ons Key Takeaways •  Chavez’s death generated 1,781,933 conversa;ons on March 5 •  71% (1,264,065 conversa;ons) were in Spanish •  In the first hour aXer the news broke, 717,297 conversa;ons about Chavez took place online MenFons of Hugo Chavez in English and Spanish By Day 2000000 Chavez dies in Venezuela 1800000 1600000 1400000 1200000 1000000 800000 600000 Chavez announces he’s returning to Venezuela aXer receiving treatment for cancer in Cuba 400000 200000 0 English Spanish The former ambassador to OAS from Panama claims Chavez is dead in a tweet Venezuela’s vice president announces Chavez is “figh;ng for his life” MenFons of Hugo Chavez in English and Spanish By Hour 800000 From 5 pm to 6 pm, when Chavez’s death first breaks, 717,297 conversa;ons take place 700000 600000 500000 400000 300000 200000 100000 0 3/4/13, 12 p.m. 3/5/13, 5 p.m. 3/6/13, 12 p.m. A Divide Between English and Spanish ConversaFons •  English conversa;on is largely split between nega;ve and posi;ve •  Most common words on March 5 reflect the split: “polarizing” on one hand, “friend” of the “poor” and “great” hero (a descrip;on given by Oliver Stone and Sean Penn) on the other •  Words on the day aXer are more nega;ve: words like “dictator,” “power,” and “oil” appear with cri;cisms of Chavez, oXen referencing his immense wealth despite being a champion of the poor and his misuse of Venezuela’s oil •  Spanish word cloud is dominated by patrio;c words and phrases like “the people” and “na;onal” •  Overall, much more posi;ve feelings toward Chavez in Spanish than in English on March 5 •  By the next day, conversa;on turned slightly more nega;ve as people began thinking of the future English and Spanish ConversaFon Clouds, March 5 English: Spanish: Highlighted words in the Spanish cloud have been translated and include “passing” and “na;on.” “Rafael” and “Frías,” Chavez’s middle name and his mother’s maiden name, also appear. Conversa;ons that included his full name were mostly posi;ve and respecdul. Other terms in the cloud, like “#laculpastuyapor” which translates to “shame on you” were used in response to those who dared to say nega;ve things about Chavez. English and Spanish ConversaFon Clouds, March 6 English: Spanish: Many of the key words from the Spanish cloud were driven by popular individuals on social media. By contrast, news sources were the main drivers of conversa;on online in English. Online Influence, English Michael Moore, documentarian and liberal poli;cal commentator, led the charge of sharing a posi;ve view of Chavez to English-­‐speaking audiences. He was joined by other celebri;es and poli;cal figures, either through their own tweets or news reports on their statements: Online Influence, English Right-­‐wing news sources and bloggers pushed a more nega;ve narra;ve about Chavez: Online Influence, Spanish Paulo Coelho, award-­‐winning Brazilian novelist and lyricist, tweeted: TranslaFon – Hugo Chávez dies and there are people that are happy? Mocking the pain of others only shows the poverty and misery of humans. Online Influence, Spanish Greivis Vasquez, Venezuelan professional basketball player who currently plays for the New Orleans Hornets in the NBA, tweeted: TranslaFon – Rest in peace Hugo Chavez and my condolences to the family members of this leader that marks an important story for our country. Online Influence, Spanish Carlos Valderrama, a former Colombian soccer player, tweeted: TranslaFon – Seeing the huge crowd of people in Venezuela, I ask myself if Chavez was as bad as we showed here the media. Trending on TwiZer – March 5, 11pm “Chavez dies” “Chavez lives forever” “Glory to the Brave Chavez,” a play on the Venezuelan na;onal anthem “Rest In Peace Chavez” Panteón Nacional refers to a famous burial place in Caracas, Venezuela where Simon Bolivar is buried. People are calling for Chavez to be buried there as well. RCN, Rádio Cadena Nacional, is a Colombian TV channel. A journalist was repor;ng from outside the hospital where Chavez died when she was aIacked and chased. hIp://youtu.be/
iQ_j28aYEtA Trending on TwiZer – March 6, 10am “Chavez lives forever” “Glory to the Brave Chavez” “Chavez at the Pantheon” Na;onal Pantheon Rádio Cadena Nacional The boIom three trends relate to concerns over the line of succession. “Cons;tución” refers to Ar;cle 233 of the Venezuelan cons;tu;on, which describes what happens in the absence of the president. “Diosdado” refers to Diosdado Cabello, president of the Na;onal Assembly and member of the Socialist Party of Venezuela, who has been ac;ng president in Chavez’s absence. “TSJ” is the Tribunal Superior de Jus;cia, the court which will decide the legality of Ar;cle 233 if it’s challenged. Some Notes About the Trending Topics •  Chavez and Venezuela did trend in the United States, but were overtaken by U.S. events (Rand Paul’s filibuster) and hashtag games (#WhitePeopleAc;vi;es, for example) while Venezuelan trends have largely remained related to Chavez since his death •  Venezuelan trends on March 5 mainly related to mourning Chavez or announcing news of his death •  By March 6, those trends shiXed as Venezuelans began looking ahead. The trends were less about Chavez’s passing and more about what should be done to honor him as well as how the country would move forward and choose a new leader