Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Trump's 20 Million Twitter Followers Get Smaller Under The Microscope
Forbes published this article 10 days ago, but I missed it then, and as far as I can tell from a search it wasn't posted here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2017/01/17/trumps-20-million-twitter-followers-get-smaller-under-the-microscope/#7f2a13d9675b
As of Jan. 16 at 1 p.m. ET, there were 19.92 million accounts following @RealDonaldTrump (he passed 20 million shortly thereafter). That's a lot, but remember, any Twitter account of that size accumulates a fair amount of detritus in the form of bots, spam accounts and other zombie followers who don't represent engaged users. In addition, big celebrities on Twitter are often followed by a number of overseas accounts that may or may not be legitimate. In Trump's case, many of those followers come from Moscow or elsewhere in Russia, India, Nigeria and Latin American countries, primarily Venezuela and Mexico. It's not surprising that our PEOTUS is followed by people around the world, but those people should not be counted as part of Trump's electoral base in the U.S.
If you limit the scope of analysis to accounts of users who self-identify as living in the United States, those 20 million total followers worldwide become more like 3 million active domestic Twitter users who included a location setting in their Twitter profile, and thus are likely to represent actual people and businesses. Affinio says they often see large shifts in audience size by applying this kind of geography filter.
What do we know about these followers? Based on an analysis of user profiles, about 52% are male, 48% female, with a plurality falling within the ages of 24-34. An additional 28% or so are 35-44, and 18% are older than 45. Just about 13%, or about 360,000, tweet more than 15 times per month, indicating a high level of engagement. They also fall into 10 distinct categories, some obvious and others less so.
The Tribes Of Trump
Affinio identified 10 major clusters within the domestic, authentic follower base. Though they may seem to describe overlapping groups, each follower is assigned to only one cluster, indicating their primary set of common interests and affiliations based on Twitter use.
Faith, Family and Football. This all-American cohort represents nearly 20% of the total, the largest cluster of Trump followers. They are 55% male and geographically dispersed across the country. Members identify with terms like “husband,” “family,” “God” and “Christian,” and are significantly more likely to follow college or professional football teams.
Conservatives. Sixty percent male and significantly older than the sample as whole, these 331,000 followers (13% of the total) overwhelmingly self-describe as “Conservative” and “Christian,” with the terms “husband,” “American,” “family life,” and “retired” also prominent in their bios. This group is 33x more likely to follow Fox News than the rest of Twitter, 355x more likely to follow Breitbart, and 42x more likely to follow Wikileaks. Their favorite celebrities are conservative media figures like Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, Laura Ingraham and Megyn Kelly. Tweeting an average of nearly 20 times per month, this is one of Trump’s most socially engaged constituencies.
Business Folks. This group, comprising about 12% of the total, gets their info from Forbes, Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Economist, and is more likely to follow Bill Gates or Richard Branson than Jimmy Fallon. Nearly 60% male and predominantly aged 35-44, Trump’s business followers are overwhelmingly based in New York, with other clumps in California, Chicago, Florida and the Dallas area.
-snip-
The other "tribes":
Politicos. 11% of the total, and the accounts they follow indicate they're as likely to be liberal as conservative, liberals keeping an eye on what Trump is tweeting.
Sports Dads. 11% again, similar to first group other than not mentioning faith very much.
Gamers. Trump's youngest fanbase, and the one most active on Twitter, but primarily interested in games.
Hollywood and Humor Fans. 8% of total, apparently following Trump the celebrity.
Suburban Moms and NASCAR Moms. Two groups, 7% and 6% of total, many also focused on faith, Suburban Moms primarily in Northeast, fans of daytime TV talk shows, NASCAR Moms in Southeast and Texas, fans of NASCAR and country music and Duck Dynasty.
Liberal Women. 4% of Trump's real, domestic followers. Fans of Michelle Obama and Rachel Maddow and Hillary Clinton, apparently keeping an eye on Trump.
If you limit the scope of analysis to accounts of users who self-identify as living in the United States, those 20 million total followers worldwide become more like 3 million active domestic Twitter users who included a location setting in their Twitter profile, and thus are likely to represent actual people and businesses. Affinio says they often see large shifts in audience size by applying this kind of geography filter.
What do we know about these followers? Based on an analysis of user profiles, about 52% are male, 48% female, with a plurality falling within the ages of 24-34. An additional 28% or so are 35-44, and 18% are older than 45. Just about 13%, or about 360,000, tweet more than 15 times per month, indicating a high level of engagement. They also fall into 10 distinct categories, some obvious and others less so.
The Tribes Of Trump
Affinio identified 10 major clusters within the domestic, authentic follower base. Though they may seem to describe overlapping groups, each follower is assigned to only one cluster, indicating their primary set of common interests and affiliations based on Twitter use.
Faith, Family and Football. This all-American cohort represents nearly 20% of the total, the largest cluster of Trump followers. They are 55% male and geographically dispersed across the country. Members identify with terms like “husband,” “family,” “God” and “Christian,” and are significantly more likely to follow college or professional football teams.
Conservatives. Sixty percent male and significantly older than the sample as whole, these 331,000 followers (13% of the total) overwhelmingly self-describe as “Conservative” and “Christian,” with the terms “husband,” “American,” “family life,” and “retired” also prominent in their bios. This group is 33x more likely to follow Fox News than the rest of Twitter, 355x more likely to follow Breitbart, and 42x more likely to follow Wikileaks. Their favorite celebrities are conservative media figures like Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, Laura Ingraham and Megyn Kelly. Tweeting an average of nearly 20 times per month, this is one of Trump’s most socially engaged constituencies.
Business Folks. This group, comprising about 12% of the total, gets their info from Forbes, Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Economist, and is more likely to follow Bill Gates or Richard Branson than Jimmy Fallon. Nearly 60% male and predominantly aged 35-44, Trump’s business followers are overwhelmingly based in New York, with other clumps in California, Chicago, Florida and the Dallas area.
-snip-
The other "tribes":
Politicos. 11% of the total, and the accounts they follow indicate they're as likely to be liberal as conservative, liberals keeping an eye on what Trump is tweeting.
Sports Dads. 11% again, similar to first group other than not mentioning faith very much.
Gamers. Trump's youngest fanbase, and the one most active on Twitter, but primarily interested in games.
Hollywood and Humor Fans. 8% of total, apparently following Trump the celebrity.
Suburban Moms and NASCAR Moms. Two groups, 7% and 6% of total, many also focused on faith, Suburban Moms primarily in Northeast, fans of daytime TV talk shows, NASCAR Moms in Southeast and Texas, fans of NASCAR and country music and Duck Dynasty.
Liberal Women. 4% of Trump's real, domestic followers. Fans of Michelle Obama and Rachel Maddow and Hillary Clinton, apparently keeping an eye on Trump.
