I was surprised by Donald Trump’s Twitter profile. He only follows 45 accounts. How deliberately manageable. So manageable, in fact, I re-created his Twitter feed. Ostensibly, this is Donald’s view** of the (Twitter) world. I checked it every day for a week. Here’s what I learned.
Note: Of the 45 accounts Don follows, there are three types: employee, family and media; 32 are individuals and 13 are organizational entities.* A listing of all accounts is presented at the end of this piece. Categorization isn’t perfect. If you find an error, let me know and I’ll correct appropriately.
- When Trump organizations are included, nearly 50% of Trump’s feed is employees, 33% media acolytes, 16% family and 2%Gary Player! Player, like Trump, has made racist comments only to publicly recant them later.
2. 59% of individuals followed are men; 100% are white with the exception of Geraldo Rivera whom self-describes his JewRican descent.
3. Of women followed, 39% are employees, 38% family and 23% media. This contrasts with men, which are heavier on media and only 22% family.
4. On diversity : Don follows 1 African American individual (Katrina Pierson) and one AA-forward organization (Diamond & Silk). Assuming nobody is closeted, Don follows no LGBTQ individuals or organizations
5. Unsurprisingly, 25% of individuals followed are / were affiliated with FOX News:@KatrinaCampins, @IngrahamAngle, @greta, @seanhannity, @BillOReilly, @TuckerCarlson, @JesseBWatters, @geraldorivera
6. On Bias. Trump follows no centrist or left-leaning thinkers. He follows no Democrats. He follows no materially non-US accounts other than Piers Morgan.
7.Trump properties likely boost followers by paying for fake followers(eg. bots.) The average follower count per Trump property is 92k. The lower limit is Trump Charlotte at 71k. For comparison, here’s a bar chart of follower counts for Conde Nast’s ranking of best hotels globally and a few others, compared to Trump hotels.
8. Donald follows Vince McMahon. Lest you assume Vince McMahan and the WWE aren’t as relevant as immigration or national security, listen to Trump talk about wrestling yesterday at the 7:48 mark. Trump the Thumper lives!
9. On content. The dominant themes of Trump’s feed are (i) partisan controversy, marked green — and (ii) immigration fear, red. To illustrate the emotional tonality of his feed, a few days of screenshots are heat mapped below,
10. Thank goodness forGreta Van SusterenandRoma Downey! In what is otherwise a sea of hyperbolic controversy and fear, Roma and Greta consistently publish positive content. Keep it coming, guys! It’s reassuring to know someone is trying to calm down our Commander-in-Chief.
I’m sure there’s a lot more to learn! Nonetheless, I found much of the data compelling and entertaining given Trump’s established Twitter-centric worldview. If you find an error, let me know and I’ll correct appropriately.
As noted above, the accounts and the categories used for the above statements is below.
Additional Notes:
*Employees represent current and former individuals and entities who serve the direct interests of Donald Trump, either in public or private service. It does not include family members, who also serve his interests. Family represents those who carry the Trump name. Finally, media includes public persons with a media presence. Mike Pence is counted twice. This was accurate as of March 13th, 2019.
**This is an unweighted feed. Twitter uses additional signals like tweets you’ve clicked on, ads you’ve engaged with, direct message activity, etc. to enhance feed relevance. This is a weighted feed. We don’t have the historical data, so this is an unweighted, raw feed.