MONTCLAIR STATE SOCIAL MEDIA STUDY FINDS OVERWHELMING INCREASE IN SADNESS AND DISGUST FROM SCOTUS RULINGS

 *Study Examined more than 150,000 Social Media Posts Surrounding Affirmative Action and Student Loan Forgiveness*

A team of School of Communication and Media faculty from Montclair State University’s Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication released a study today surrounding 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.

Highlights of the study include:

1. Exponential increase of topic discussions on social media:

• 13,000% increase on unique discussions on “Affirmative Action” during the period of June 26-July 2.
• 12,000% increase on unique discussions on “Student Loan Forgiveness” during the period of June 26 – July 2.
• The majority of conversations regarding these two topics occurred on Twitter compared to othe­r social media platforms.

2. Emotions and Sentiments

• Sadness and Disgust were the dominant emotions by American social media users exhibited on both topics (i.e., Affirmative Action and Student Loan forgiveness).
• On the topic of “Affirmative Action,” emotions of disgust and sadness saw an astounding increase of 19,483% and 25,085% respectively.
• “Student Loan Forgiveness” showed similar patterns, with the dominant sentiment of sadness increasing 14,776%.
• Based on the results from Brandwatch for both topics (i.e., Affirmative Action & Student Loan forgiveness) neutral sentiment was dominant, accounting for 60% of the sentiments.
• Similar sentiments were reflected in Keyhole’s findings on the topic of “Student Loan Forgiveness” but not on the topic of “Affirmative Action.” Based on Keyhole’s results, positive (36%) sentiment was slightly higher than neutral (35%) and negative (29%) sentiments.

3. Trending Topics

• Discussions of Student Loan Forgiveness were frequently tied to disappointment toward the Supreme Court and PPP Loans Forgiveness given to celebrities, politicians, or big companies.
• The most engaged tweets about “Affirmative Action” were from Barack and Michelle Obama.
• Discussions on Black people related to racism, rights, success, students, admission processes, and others have increased 92% in the chosen time period.

Trending hashtags, key words, and mentions surrounding each topic (e.g., #AffirmativeAction, #affirmative, #SCOTUSRuling, college loan forgiveness, #StudentLoan, #studentloandebt, etc.) were used to build relevant search queries on Brandwatch and Keyhole, which are social media analytics software platforms that specialize in uncovering business insights and trends through AI-powered social listening.

The full study, which can be found  here, was led by School of Communication and Media faculty member Dr. Yi Luo with assistance from Dr. Jin-A Choi and Dr. Bond Benton. Along with additional research and writing expertise from SCM staff and graduate students, this is the sixth study the research team has conducted since the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication opened prior to the 2022-23 academic year. The other studies highlighted below have garnered tens of millions of earned media impressions globally on the following topics:

• The increase in hate speech following Elon Musk taking over Twitter.
• Boycotts surrounding last year’s World Cup due to Human Rights issues and a separate World Cup study about players, brands, teams and trends.
• Use of “Groomer” Hate Speech Increased on Twitter After Colorado Springs Nightclub Shooting.
• The cultural phenomenon of Pumpkin Spice.

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