DU Weather Report - a frequency analysis of our conversations

[Bucky]

DU-GD Weather Report - a frequency analysis of our conversations

Around 2pm Central Time, Dec 8th--today (3pm Eastern; high noon in Cali) I took a quick survey of the conversations standing on the front page of DU's General Discussion forum. Based on the headlines and substance of those conversations, I tried to do a statistical analysis of what we have been talking about today. I will pretend that this is a typical day on DU.

The DU Discussion forum holds 80 discussion threads per page. There's one sticky note at the top, so there were a total of 79 discussions in this survey. Based on content, I categorized them into four groups. They broke down as follows:

44.3% (35 threads) about distractions & non-substantive political acrimony from Trump or Trump lieutenants, not addressing policy

19.0% (15 threads) about the GOP/Trump/corporate agenda

. 6.3% (5 threads) about corruption by Trump or incoming Trump officials -- actual scandalous behavior, not just oratorical outrages (which I counted as distractions)

30.4% (24 threads) about other things not directly addressing Trumpian behaviors or words

* [font size="1"](I break these down by thread title at the bottom of this post, cause you liberal smarty pants to want to nitpick over my generalizations)[/font]

However, what got posted up here did not directly correlate with how much attention DUers paid to each area. DU provides 3 convenient metrics for how the online community responds to the posts
- comments
- recommendations
- views

Here's what I found:

Comments

Threads about Trump's distractions were only 44% of OPs, but drew 53.6% of comments at the time of survey (702 comments, or about 20 follow up comments per thread). Threads about non-Trumpite subjects were 25% of all comments engaging the 30% of OPs that didn't get sucked into the crazy world of our Petulant-Elect.

Types of thread
Distractions - 44.3% of threads - 53.6% of comments (702) - 20 per thread
GOP-Agenda - 19.0% of threads - 18.7% of comments (245) - 16 per thread
Corruption.- - 6.3% of threads - 2.7% of comments (36) - 7 per thread
Non-Trump - 30.4% of threads - 25.0% of comments (327) - 32 per thread

It is in the more passive engagement of the audience that we get a hint of how effective Trump's personality (I can't call it media strategy) is at helping him succeed.

Recommendations and Views

Interpreting these figures to mean enthusiasm (recs) and draw (views) of the topics being discussed, DUers tend to be more enthusiastic about topics other than Trump, but like the star-crossed heroes of Brokeback Mountain, just cain't quit Trump. The 30% of threads not about Trump and his demented ways garnered 34% of the recs. But they only got 24% of the views by all DUers combined.

Instead, the slow burning dumpster fire of Trumpish distractions (at 44% of all threads) got a proportional number of recommendations (45%) but the lion's share (54%) of actual click-traffic from member-readers. The more substantive concerns of Trumpery, policy agenda and signs of official corruption, got 17% and 4% of recommendations and 17% and 5% of views, respectively.

Recommends and Views by type of thread
Distractions - 45.5% of recs - 54.0% of traffic (702) - 44.5% of threads
GOP-Agenda - 16.7% of recs - 16.8% of traffic (245) - 19.0% of threads
Corruption.- - 3.7% of recs - 4.8% of traffic (36) - 6.3% of threads
Non-Trump - 34.1% of recs - 24.4% of traffic (327) - 30.4% of threads

Conclusion

Trump's stock in trade (getting people too riled up with his petty antics to focus on his weasely little march to power) is working perfectly at DU. A case in point is the top view-getter among the discussion threads at the time of this survey, "Author Stephen King on Trump's mental state." This is a great example of the celebrity twitter feud that always sees Trump verbally spanked by some liberal icon, only to continue unimpeded in his corruption after the dust settles. It accomplishes mostly nothing, at least in the short run, but serves to drive news about & attention toward actual official wrong-doing out of the public consciousness.

If DUers want to be effective at policy blocking Trump, we have to be more disciplined. Like the rest of Trumpled Over America, we are too easily agitated by the Demander-in-Chief's childish antics. There are not enough discussions & not enough attention paid toward his economic agenda, virtually nothing about the impact of dismantling Obamacare or Paul Ryan's designs on Medicare & Social Security, or the gut punch that their lopsided tax cuts will deliver to the deficit.

Of course, I'm advocating that "Let's just everybody quit rubbernecking at the Yuge traffic accident on the freeway and maybe we'll all start to move forward more quickly." Human nature doesn't work that way. But it would be nice if we, as a community could find a way to start focusing on and fighting the terrible things he's actually gonna do and be less drawn to the Twittering escapades that only produce outrage without offering us a clear course of action.

I am fully open to suggestions about how to do this.

--Bucky Rea, Houston, TX, lifelong Democrat

List of discussion threads by type (then sorted by view count)

[font size="1"]Agenda
There is only one reason why corporations have moved overseas [View all]
Amazon on Monday unveiled the latest plan to automate American workers out of existence [View all]
A Perfect Toon For Our Times...
Emboldened by Trump win, Ohio passes "heartbeat" law banning abortion at 6 WEEKS.
Democrats must own their values, Tea Party-style, not shift even more toward the mushy middle [View all]
Republicans back off threat to shut down government to undermine civilian control of the military
How Big-Box Retailers Weaponize Old Stores
With perfect Ebeneezer timing, the Republicans plan to double the number of uninsured
Michael Moore begs Trump: Attend security briefings or the next terror attack is all your fault
20 Things Donald Trump Said He Wanted to Get Rid of as President
Democrats vow to fight 'tooth and nail' against Medicare cuts
AFL-CIO Trumka on Chuck Jones: "Chuck is a hero-An attack on him is an attack on all working people"
Trump Cons On Climate
Texas Publishes Anti-Abortion Booklet Filled with Falsehoods and Lies
Some good news for Flint, from Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-5)

Corruption
Seen in the New York Times comments section on Trump's selection of Scott Pruitt to run the EPA:
Linda McMahon (WWE) picked to be Small Business administrator
Honest question about potential EPA head Scott Pruitt
CEO of Hardees to run the Labor Department...
Trumps Likely Labor Pick, Andrew Puzder, Is Critic of Minimum Wage Increases

Distractions
Author Stephen King on Trump's mental state
The GOP is threatening to shut down the government. By this Friday. Guess why.
Yes. They are Deplorable. [View all]
Ret. Gen. McCaffrey Changes Opinion On Flynn After Reading 'Nearly Demented' Tweets
I understand Gen. Flynn and his son run a Child Sex Ring in Washington DC.
Trump gets to decide where in DC groups can protest his inauguration  if at all
Neo-Nazis are calling for a boycott of new Star Wars movie
Just checking to make sure that you realize we are allowing an illegitimate psycho
Newt Gingrich (R-fornicate head) really stepped in it with Dec 7 tweet
Trust your gut.
A post-mortem of the Dems is largely pointless, because after Trump, we as a people will be so
Which celeb to nominate for 2020? [View all]
What are your plans for Inauguration Day? [View all]
Lindsey Graham says the Russians did indeed interfere with the American elections.
Donald Trump now blaming unions for jobs leaving the country
O'Reilly: I'm Never Going On The View Again After Disrespect Of Trump
Sofia Vergara: US actress faces lawsuit 'from own embryos'
GOP goes ape after Trump calls McConnell "that lying smarmy-mouthed hypocritical hillbilly"
Trump's Labor Secretary Nominee on Women in Bikinis
So....what would happen if Twitter just decided to suspend Donald Trump's account?
Here is the perfect TV show for the coming holiday season
I reread Dylann Roof's manifesto today and you could have lifted half of it from Breitbart
Today Show interview with Trump proves we elected the single most fragile ego in American history
Quote from Voltaire: "Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous."
The movie Idiocracy has literally come to pass.
Trump needs to get this guy to head the EPA
Pope Francis BLASTS Conservatives For Sin Of Spreading Fake News, Equates It To Eating Feces
I just found out how trump is going to build his wall
How to Know What Donald Trump Really Cares About: Look at What Hes Insulting
Petulant-elect Trump.
The smallness of Donald Trump
Talks With Mitt Romney for Secretary of State Not About Revenge, Trump Says
Another day in Post-Fact-Era-dise
WTF? Reid: Trump 'not as bad as I thought he would be'
I figured it out.

Non-Trump oriented
My uncle enlisted in the Navy, right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I found this picture of him [View all]
The classy First Family. [View all]
Yoko Ono
Greg Lake dead aged 69: Lead singer of King Crimson and Emerson loses battle with cancer
White House staff left 'in tears' after thank you speech from Michelle Obama
This will always be my First Family...
Pizza shop gunman says he regrets how he handled situation
Guy sets his own home on fire, blames Black Lives Matter.
Could it be TRUE? Joe Biden is now considering a run for President in 2020?
Welcome to the Resistance
Budowsky: Bernie Sanders is Democrats' person of the year
In the spirit of the season... with love from BigBearJohn
Wow seismic busy day! 8.0 earthquake Solomon Islands.
Sandy Hook Hoax lady threatens parents of dead kid
Ex-firefighter who threatened to kill black couple indicted on 7 felony counts
QUESTION: does anyone have addresses to send mail to the Electors?
Libraries Become Unexpected Sites of Hate Crimes
Bolstering investors confidence
Has U.S. life expectancy maxed out? Decline is first in decades
No mistrial for Dylann Roof after church shooting survivor calls him 'evil'
The Democratic Party has been Constitutionally "kettled", there is really only one doable solution
Iran Races to Clinch Oil Deals Before Donald Trump Takes Office
Oklahoma Citys First New Abortion Clinic in 40 Years
'Impunity has consequences': the women lost to Mexico's drug war


[/font]

[CincyDem]

1. Wow - that's some number crunching

Thank you for doing this. Interesting exercise to get the pulse and it makes me think about my own focus/interaction habits. I confess to being a rubbernecker at this point and you're right - there's a time for that it's probably over.

Let's start getting busy with the future at hand.

Thank you.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. plus 100

[KT2000]

2. I like this -

it is a good check on who we are and what grabs our attention. I wish there was an Activist category.

[Bucky]

3. yeah, me too

There needs to be discussions on action. Or at least way to draw people into a networking group if they're interested in standing up to the bullies who, for worser or worse, have taken over the country.

[JudyM]

18. You can find DU's "Activism" group under "Topics"

[JudyM]

19. DU's Activism groups are listed under "Topics" but it'd be cool to have a bigger forum.

[Bucky]

4. Please kick if you found this useful. It's a long read, and thus a fast dropper in GD

[Raster]

5. Kick for visibility!

[pangaia]

6. WOW !! You did this?? Good work.

here's the funny thing.

I could have told anybody this.. well, sort, of,, not with the details and EVIDENCE you did.. but just my gut..
We just sit here whining..., bitching HILLARY WON FUCK BERNIE, and BERNIE WOULD HAVE WON, Hillary is a loser, blah blah.......and, as you say gawking at the crash on the road.. ME TOO.., well #1 and 3, anyway...

And then we go about our daily business...

But, I have also, started trying to see what small steps I can take.. I email and call my reps.. Schumer and Gillibrand, and Unfortunately Chris 'Asshole" Collins.

I also sign petitions.. eh.. not much eh... give a few $$ here and there.....

While we tend to think DU is this famous nationwide influence, it's really just a bunch of people working with 0's and 1's.... sort of.

But we COULD be something of a force if we wanted to..
I am not good at that, at organizing, and have no experience in PR or politics.. but...there must be MANY here who are...
..........................

OK, back to Mozart for now... I have to choose between K 306, K 380, K 454 for a friend's violin recital.. I just eliminated K 526.. Forgive me Wolfie...

See what I mean?


.

[volstork]

7. Thank you for this.

Here at DU, we should be better than getting distracted by shiny objects.

[FarCenter]

8. Interesting analysis - however, I get 14 comments per non-Trump thread. 327 / 24?

Wonder how this would differ if you wait a couple days and then sort by post time and go back to a page that contains threads of this vintage.

After 2 or 3 days each thread should have received almost all the activity, comments, and recommendations that it will get.

My guess is that distractions would be even more dominant, since the front page would contain a lot of distractions that are still on fire, while the other threads are on their way off the page for lack of comments.

[Bucky]

23. Thanks

Yeah, errors are possible. I did all the math with excel after lunch and kind of snoozed out halfway thru. I caught several errors I made in the process. Numbers and carbohydrates make me sleepy.

I went with the "1st page snapshot" approach because it represented a mix of new and lingering threads. Some discussions drag on for a couple of days, but many drop through to the second page within an hour. I thought that, as a core-sample approach, I should get a mixture of threads with different durations.

[Cooley Hurd]

9. Fascinating and K&R.

[zippythepinhead]

10. Interesting

I think du has been doing a great job. Why else would the site been attacked by a very sophisticated hacker?

Trump owns 3600 websites. His org. has bought many pro Hillary sites and turned them into Hillary hate ones.

I am certain this site is watched 24/7 by trump's agents. I am sure that trump himself has visited us.

One thing for sure is that trump can dish it out but can't take insults. This will be his downfall.

I firmly believed that trump was involved in hacking DU.

As for Stephen King I think it was a great discussion.

I say that this ship is on the right course. Keep up the good work members.

[cwydro]

11. Fascinating!

Thanks for posting.

You should do one of these about how many defeatist posts there are daily; they've become tiresome.

[gilpo]

12. kicking to recognize a ton of hard work

[malaise]

13. A great post

Going to read it in detail

[McKim]

14. What a Great Service!

This is excellent analysis. We need to stop getting caught up in the garbage storm of Trump tweets and reacting to them. We should be talking about real news, cabinet biographies, giving ourselves agency as democrats and actions we can take. We could be a clearinghouse for a few boycotts, actions, ways to build the party with donations and work. The pity party is over and it is time to push against the alt right barrage in legal and financial ways.

[flying rabbit]

15. k&r

[Equinox Moon]

16. The Stat Master! Impressive indeed.

Please, give us a check-up periodically. I think it will help.

[Bucky]

21. Will do.

[dhill926]

17. kickin' and reccin'

[Bucky]

22. thank you for being on my reccing crew

[JudyM]

24. K&R. Interesting! Would like to read more of these in the future, Bucky.

[Corey_Baker08]

25. This Reminds Me Of The Power Of DU, We Used To Have DU Meet-Ups,etc

People knew each other more by than a username, we would organize plan & attend anti war rallies, we had an organized protest at Bushs inauguration, we made it a point to have in person meet-ups...

We could do this again, become a represented voice in the political arena...

[JHan]

26. K&R