Interestingly, the total volume of conversation on the 17 March 2016 (22,978) was a little over half of the conversation taking place about the Budget Speech of 24 February.
This is abundantly clear when comparing this data directly. The key spikes are:
Yellow:
- day 31: Van Rooyen's two Gupta advisors are named
- day 58: Jonas (followed by others) goes on record that the Gupta's offered him the Minister of Finance position.
Looking specifically at 16 March 2016, volumes of conversation increased dramatically over the course of the day with a strong correlation between the release of press regarding the Gupta's. While volumes increased significantly a significant portion was "information sharing" and we aren't seeing the population get mad in the same way they have with the "MustFall" movements. However, negativity did significantly increase off the back of the new information.
Based on location we're seeing a typical distribution for political conversation with Gauteng leading the charge followed by the Western Cape.
When observing key themes of conversation we note broad conversation regarding "State Capture", Mentor and Janas. Interestingly, and as is typically South African, a number of comedic trends have appeared including "#replaceasongtitlewithgupta" and "#statecapturemovietitles".
Data source: youKnow.co.za
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