Welcome to this week’s edition of The Labs Report. 

In this edition, we’ll be diving into the topics, stories and people that made an impact in the Automotive industry this week (look for a new industry focus next week) – and then zooming out to look at the most talked-about stories of the week in general.

 

In Focus: The Week in Automotive

Here’s a snapshot of what happened in the Automotive industry this week: 

Electrification and alternative powertrains again saw the highest volume of chatter this week, with two tweets, in particular, causing conversation to peak on the evening of February 22nd and the morning of February 23rd. 

The first tweet, published by a Twitter account with a modest amount of followers, gained significant traction (at least in part) by referencing electric cars in relation to the Harley Quinn cartoon series. 

The second tweet, which garnered fewer retweets but still helped add to the conversation spike, was authored by a self-proclaimed “Trump Supporter” and accused presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of climate change hypocrisy, for one because he doesn’t own an electric car. 

The Telegraph also caused some buzz this week with their piece that says electric cars – which are prone to stopping very suddenly when they break down and are difficult to tow – are roadway hazards. 

Ridesharing was also big this week, with stories published by The Rideshare Justice Project and The Verge – which were widely shared on Twitter – powering the conversation. 

The piece from The Rideshare Justice Project, which was originally published in 2018 but gained significant traction this week, discusses the various flaws of a MIT study that found that rideshare drivers, on average, earn $8.55 an hour. 

The second piece that drove (no pun intended) conversation this week was published by The Verge, and highlighted a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, which “estimates that the environmental impact of Uber and Lyft rides is 69% worse than the transportation modes they replace.”

 

Zooming Out: The Week’s Most-Talked-About Stories

Here are the stories that were trending on Twitter this week:

According to The New York Times, House members have been warned by Intelligence officials that Russia is meddling in the 2020 presidential election to help get President Trump re-elected.

In the spirit of true bipartisanship, The Washington Post reports that the Russians are also trying to help the election campaign of Bernie Sanders.

In a searing op-ed published by The Washington Post, retired Navy admiral William McRaven decries the dismissal of Joe Maguire from his post as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and tells Americans that they should be very, very afraid for the future of the nation.

Breaking through the otherwise impenetrable wall of political news this week, The LA Times penned a highly-shared review of mega-popular K-pop group BTS’ latest album, “Map of the Soul: 7”. 

Adding further nuance to the top story of the week, CNN writes that intelligence officials are walking back on the briefing they provided to House members. The upshot? Yes, the Russians are meddling in the election, and yes, they view President Trump as someone they can work with, but U.S. intelligence does “not have evidence that Russia’s interference this cycle is aimed at reelecting Trump.”

 

While You Wait

Want more while you wait for next week’s edition of The Labs Report? Visit our Resource Center and check out our latest data-driven analysis for key marketing lessons from Netflix’s launch of The Witcher.

Like what you see? Get in touch with our team to find out more about how Zignal can help you measure the real-time evolution of opinion to shape more powerful brands, campaigns, products, and threat detection.

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“In Focus” Methodology: The data which drives this section is informed by an analysis of data related to the industry in question from February 21st to February 27th, 2020.
“Zooming Out” Methodology: The data which drives this section is informed by a 10% sampling of Twitter activity around news stories published from February 21st  to February 27th, 2020. Stories are published by 25 of the most highly-read publications across the country (based on circulation data), including: ABC News, Bloomberg, The Boston Globe, CBS News, The Chicago Tribune, CNN, The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post, Fox News, The Houston Chronicle, Huffington Post, The LA Times, MSNBC, NBC News, The New York Daily News, The New York Post, The New York Times, Newsday, Reuters, The Seattle Times, The Star Tribune, The Tampa Bay News, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
The top five stories from the above-mentioned publications that received the most mentions across Twitter from February 21st  to February 27th, 2020, ranked by number of mentions from that date range.