Welcome to this week’s edition of The Labs Report, your one-stop, data-driven shop to quickly get up to speed on the most important and influential stories of the week.

Here’s what was trending on Twitter from August 29th to September 4th, 2019.

The Five Most-Talked-About News Stories of the Week 

  1. Imran Khan: The World Can’t Ignore Kashmir. We Are All in Danger | The New York Times
  2. Sick Migrants Undergoing Lifesaving Care Can Now Be Deported | The New York Times
  3. Dog fakes broken leg to get pets and treats from tourists | The New York Post
  4. A rattled Trump scrambles for victories ahead of election | CNN
  5. Curbs on Methane, Potent Greenhouse Gas, to Be Relaxed in U.S. | The New York Times

The New York Times dominated the week in media on Twitter, scoring three of the five most-talked-about stories of the week. 

First up was an editorial by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, laying out his assessment – which included a warning of potential nuclear war – of the current situation in Kashmir. A story about the continued immigration crackdown took second place, while the Times also nabbed the fifth spot with a piece on the Trump administration’s decision to relax pollution laws.

The remaining stories in the week’s top five effectively showcase two of Twitter’s key demographics: dog lovers and political nerds. The New York Post’s story about a dog that’s figured out a unique ploy for pats was easily the most light-hearted piece to hit it big this week, while CNN’s look at President Trump’s attempts to find a positive message in the midst of persistent talk of a recession provided an interesting look behind the scenes as the 2020 election cycle looms ever larger. 

The 10 Most Used Hashtags of the Week

  1. #FoxNews
  2. #Kashmir
  3. #Trump
  4. #MoscowMitch
  5. #HongKong
  6. #MAGA
  7. #KashmirHour
  8. #HurricaneDorian
  9. #OneVoice1
  10. #HongKongProtests

Given that it was the subject of the most popular story of the week, it’s no surprise to see #Kashmir trending ever higher this week, along with a debut for #KashmirHour at number seven. Further proving that Twitter is the tool for people to discuss international news,  #HongKong and #HongKongProtests also appeared in the top 10, helping non-US-focused topics claim 40% of this week’s list. 

Elsewhere, #HurricaneDorian was the only other new entrant in the week’s top hashtags, and, as with any natural disaster, it’s one that we hope not to see again next week.

The Five Most Shared Tweets of the Week

This week’s most-shared tweets were dominated by “regular” Twitter users, by which we mean that the top three tweets all came from non-celebrity, non-politician and non-branded accounts – proof positive that pre-existing fame is not a prerequisite for virality.

The week’s most shared story will be well known to anyone who has ever used the phrase “dog Twitter,” while a pair of scathingly snarky tweets – perhaps the content that Twitter does best –  about movie theaters and the demise of Forever 21 took the second and third spots.

The final two spots this week did go to politicians, however, with Adam Schiff weighing in on universal background checks for gun purchases, and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders adding his voice to a story about marijuana convictions being expunged in New York state.

1. Canine cunning

2. Movie theaters on blast

3. Picking the bones out of Forever 21

*Potentially offensive language is blurred in this tweet.

4.Universal background checks: a case study 

5. Bernie gets blunt 

Want more data-driven insights while you wait for next week’s edition of The Labs Report? Check out our Story of a Hashtag blog post to learn more about the rise of #MoscowMitch, find out which of the four major American sports leagues dominates conversation on Twitter (and why) or read “From Tradition to Traction: The New Rules of Financial Services Communications,” our latest special report that explores how impact-driven metrics can help you supercharge the growth and reputation of your institution.

Be sure to also visit our Resource Center and get in touch with our team to find out more about how Zignal Labs can help you build and protect your brand.

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Methodology: The data which drives this series, provided by the Zignal Labs platform, is informed by a 10% sampling of Twitter activity around news stories published from August 29th to September 4th, 2019. 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 5 Most-Talked-About Stories of the Week” are the five stories from the above-mentioned publications that received the most mentions across Twitter from August 29th to September 4th, 2019, ranked by number of mentions from that date range.
The “Ten Most Used Hashtags of the Week “ are the ten hashtags that were mentioned the most on Twitter around Tweets related to news stories published by the above-mentioned publications from August 29th to September 4th, 2019, ranked by number of mentions from that date range.
The “Top Five Most Shared Tweets of the Week” are the five Tweets, related to news stories published by the above-mentioned publications from August 29th to September 4th, 2019, that received the most Retweets, ranked by number of Retweets from that date range.