Over the last couple weeks, you probably saw a lot of news about two things: Miley Cyrus and Syria. But which story did people really care about most? We used Facebook’s new Keyword Insights API to analyze what people were talking about, and exactly who was doing the talking.
Two of the biggest stories during the last two week were Miley Cyrus' performance at the VMAs and the ongoing strife in Syria. We used Facebook's Keyword Insights API, announced today, to see how these two very different types of stories made their way in different age groups and genders. BuzzFeed is one of a handful of news organizations selected for early access to the API.
The VMAs drew much more conversation than Syria overall.
The Aug. 25 VMAs drew a ton of mentions, but the Middle Eastern conflict caught up in just a few days. It even took a noticeable lead on August 31st thanks to Obama's nationally televised statement.
Jacqueline Yue / BuzzFeed
Youngsters immediately took to their keyboards after Miley Cyrus performed at the VMAs.
And it took a day for old people to chime in. Those 35 and up talked 110% more the Monday after, compared with people under 35 talking just 15% more. The youth were responsible for the huge, out-of-control explosion that started on the internet Sunday night, but the older crowd clearly caught on by the next day.
Jacqueline Yue / BuzzFeed
And the kids talked more than the grown-ups about everything.
Even the nostalgia of an NSYNC reunion wasn't enough to spur the older generations into a lead for any VMA topics. In fact, they only accounted for 10% of the talk about the boy band. Older folks did get the most engaged in matters of Miley and twerking, taking up 29% and 27% of those conversations.
Jacqueline Yue / BuzzFeed
