As the G8 begins in Northern Ireland today, we look back at the conversations on Twitter in the week leading up to the global summit.
Topics of Discussion
Looking at all of the tweets with the hashtag #g8 between 10 – 16 June, the most common accompanying hashtag was #occupylondon. Given Twitter’s popularity with younger audiences, and its recent use as a vehicle for protest, it comes as no surprise that the protests in London against the G8 summit have dominated pre-G8 Twitter discussion. #direnlondra is also associated with the anti-G8 protests.
The top 15 hashtags about the G8:
- #occupylondon
- #london
- #ifcampaign
- #direnlondra
- #g8uk
- #belfast
- #bigif
- #stopg8
- #syria
- #stoplandgrabs
- #transparency
- #tax
- #taxhavens
- #travelni
- #shady
Volume of Tweets
Leading up to the G8 summit, the amount of discussion on Twitter fluctuated. On 11 June, tweets for #G8 nearly doubled, coinciding with the mass anti-G8 and anti-capitalist protests in London. Activity declined for the next two days, but then began to increase on 14 June around the Innovation Conference and the weekend before.
Geography
Plotting the origin of tweets shows the truly global scale of engagement, with Central and Western Africa and Central Asia the notable exceptions.
We will be looking at more data in depth when the G8 has ended to gauge both the impact and reaction of the G8 online.