#Pontiff-Ex: The Twitter Community’s Reaction to the Papal ResignationDr. Theresa Sauter / Assoc. Prof. Axel Bruns

ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation

Queensland University of Technology

Brisbane, Australien

t.sauter / a.bruns @ qut.edu.au

@lena_sauter / @snurb_dot_info

INTRODUCTION

• Twitter:– Increasing Twitter, Inc. focus on celebrity accounts– Encouragement for ‘ordinary’ users to become “listeners” (Kate

Crawford)• e.g. Suggested User List during account creation

– Global celebrities with follower numbers in the millions

• The papal Twitter account:– @pontifex (and language variations) set up in December 2012– Used by Benedict XVI, then archived and wiped following resignation– Reactivated by Francis after his election

– Tweets by / at @pontifex captured since 3 Dec. 2012 (within API limits)

@PONTIFEX × 9

• 9 papal accounts:– @pontifex (English)– Latin, German, Spanish,

Portuguese, Polish, Italian, French, Arabic

• @pontifex:– Followers: 1.6m (28 Feb. 2013),

3m+ (today)Following: 8 (the other @pontifex accounts)

• No @replies sent to date

RESEARCH APPROACH

• Methods:– Tweets by and at @pontifex gathered via yourTwapperkeeper– Likely to have reached API limits (1% of global Twitter volume) during

periods of extreme attention– Calculation of various standard metrics (cf. Bruns & Stieglitz 2013):

• Volume, userbase distribution, most active / most visible users

• Analysis:– Two key phases: Benedict XVI vs. sede vacante + Francis

TIMELINE

Sede Vacante period

RESEARCH APPROACH

• Methods:– Tweets by and at @pontifex gathered via yourTwapperkeeper– Likely to have reached API limits (1% of global Twitter volume) during

periods of extreme attention– Calculation of various standard metrics (cf. Bruns & Stieglitz 2013):

• Volume, userbase distribution, most active / most visible users

• Analysis:– Two key phases: Benedict XVI vs. sede vacante + Francis– Qualitative exploration of most active and most visible users’ activities

• Categorisation of user types• Identification of user attitudes and sentiments

@MENTIONS OF @PONTIFEX ACCOUNTS 3 DEC. 2012 TO 31 MAR. 2013

USER ACTIVITIES, 10-28 FEB. 2013

USER ACTIVITIES, 1-31 MAR. 2013

@MENTION PATTERNS

• Large volume of @mentions of the @pontifex account– Flat activity distribution: lead users contribute relatively little– Commenting rather than information sharing:

• Very small percentage of tweets containing URLs• Smallish percentage of retweets• Very few retweets especially by most active users –

the long tail of participants contributes the most retweets

– More activity around Benedict XVI’s resignation than Francis’s election and inauguration

ENGAGEMENT AND RESONANCE

• Further qualitative investigation:– Most active and most visible users (top 30):

• Active = number of tweets sent mentioning @pontifex• Visible = @mentioned in tweets also mentioning @pontifex

– Qualitative examination of:• User profile (as of mid-2013)• Tweets sent or @mentioned in

– Development of preliminary categories for users and tweets

– Tweets/profiles in languages other than English ignored unless intelligible to the researchers

@REPLIERS: MOST ACTIVE ACCOUNTS

@REPLIERS: CLASSIFICATION SCHEMA

• Attitudes:– Positive / neutral / negative towards the pope– Positive / neutral / negative towards the church– Positive / neutral / negative towards religion

• Other categories:– Obsessive / unhinged– Retweet bots– Other / unintelligible

TOP 30 @REPLIERS - CLASSIFICATIONFE

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TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES

• Key themes in tweets directed at @pontifex:– Pro: support, thanks, good wishes– Anti: criticism of homophobia, paedophilia – Mixed: supportive of pope but critical of pomp and glory of church and

rituals (especially during February period)– Mixed: extreme conservativism, concerns over ‘new ways’ and

modernisation of the church (especially during March period)– Obsessive / unhinged: extreme religiosity, seeking direct contact with

pope or god; non-sensical tweets with religious themes

TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES

• Pro:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/02/pontifex-project-week-6/

(Retweeted by second most active @replier, 12 Feb.)

TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES

• Anti:

Catholic World In Shock After POPE Resigns http://t.co/z7LV2YIp BUT NOT SHOCKED THAT HE

@PONTIFEX HID PEDOFILE PRIESTS WHO DESTROYED LIVES

(Fifth most active @replier, 12 Feb.)

IMAGE TWEETS

(Third most active @replier, 10 Feb. – reposted from same account ~25 times.)

TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES

• Mixed:– critical of pomp and glory of church / rituals, but supportive of

religion as such

@pontifex #askpontifex #catholic #cardinals look at you #costumes #pride #circus #hypocrit #control you will

elect one of your own? #disgust

(seventh most active @replier, 1 Mar.)

TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES

• Mixed:– conservative

Catholics, concerned about ‘new ways’ / modernisation of church

– especially after Francis’s election

(19th most active @replier, 22 Mar.)

TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES

• Obsessive / unhinged:– extreme religiosity; seeking direct contact with Pope/God

[1:] @Pontifex let me tell you a story ... In 2007 I was sitting at school at Gannon university next to the statue of Jesus teaching

[2:] the whole worlds weight fell on my shoulders I felt the burden of faith fall in my lap and it was hard to do at that time

[3:] I have been matured and humbled from then it was an ephifiney I knew what I had to do and now I know how to do it in 2013

[4:] I have come out of the weeds to save the human race once again in the likeness of the beginning and the end shall nevermore

[5:] that's the light that is in the free drawing I heard from the bloody red sea of souls

(14th most active @replier, 10 Mar.)

TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES

• Obsessive / unhinged:– nonsensical

@Pontifex AZ(^O^)7 Jesus said viper's children!repent!☆Why have you given you hard by yourself?Why can you

want me his words?Robber!Liar!

(Second most active @replier, 16 Feb.)

TOP 30 @REPLIERS – ENGAGEMENT

Who engages?• More supporters than critics, especially during first phase

(Benedict XVI resignation)• Peaceful thankyous and goodbyes

• More mixed feelings in second phase (sede vacante and Francis’s election and inauguration)• Uncertainty, fear of change

• More obsessive / unhinged @mentions in second phase

• Are the Top 30 representative?

RECIPIENTS:MOST VISIBLE ACCOUNTS

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – 10-28 FEB. 2013@robdelaney comedian@rickygervais comedian@pontifex_es Pope (account in Spanish)@YOUCAT_spanish religious (Youth Catechism

of the Catholic Church)@marianorajoy Spanish Prime Minister@Dio god (non-existent)@guglielmoscilla Italian actor, writer, Youtuber@BBCBreaking news@SraBilis ???@frankieboyle comedian

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – 1-31 MAR. 2013Pontifex_es Pope (account in Spanish)JMBergoglio Francis (fake account)NicolasMaduro President of VenezuelaBBCBreaking newsBBCWorld newsESPcatolicos “Catholics of Spain” (unofficial)Pontifex_it Pope (account in Italian)twitterreligion official Twitter Inc. accountEPN President of MexicoCNNEE CNN (account in Spanish)

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS - CLASSIFICATIONFE

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TOP 30 RECIPIENTS: SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES

• What has resonance?– Tweets

• Religious• Funny• News • Support

(thankyous / welcome)• Critical

• Unidentifiable (no original tweets; language)

– Attitudes• Pro• Anti• Neutral (light / news)

• Unidentifiable

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES

• Religious:– Internet personality

@Pontifex Holy Father, millions of people are praying for you. #catholic #prayer #pope #benedictxvi

(@fatherz, 10 Feb.)

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES

• Funny:– Comedian– Pro

@Pontifex I'll miss you bro. A lot of popes suck, but you were cool. And fuck me if you're not the best dancer to ever wear that silly hat.

(@robdelaney, 28 Feb)

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES

• Funny:– Parody account– Anti

I forced @Pontifex to resign when I learned that he had abused Vatican altar boys who were only 53. #cradlerobber.

(@almightygod, 11 Feb)

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES

• Funny– Writer– Neutral

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES

• News:– News organisation– Neutral

Pope Benedict XVI becomes first @Pontifex in 600 years to step down - #Catholic Church now officially without a #pope

http://t.co/FGGsIDAnqi(@BBCBreaking, 28 Feb)

TOP 30 RECIPIENTS - PATTERNS

• Accounts @mentioned in tweets to @pontifex:– Mainly due to retweets of their tweets to / about @pontifex– Some accounts frequently @mentioned due to comparisons between them and

the Pope (e.g. Spanish PM @marianorajoy)

• 10-28 Feb. 2013:– Retweets of positive tweets about @pontifex– Retweets of neutral and negative jokes about @pontifex– Retweets of neutral news about @pontifex

• 1-31 Mar. 2013:– Retweets of positive tweets about @pontifex– Retweets of neutral jokes about @pontifex– Retweets of neutral news about @pontifex

@REPLIERS VS. RECIPIENTS

• @repliers– 10-28 Feb:

• More support than criticism

• Thanks and goodbyes

– 1-31 Mar.:• Mixed feelings• Fear and uncertainty• Obsessive and

unhinged

• Recipients:– 10-28 Feb.:

• News reports• Critical and neutral

jokes• Collateral targets

– 1-31 Mar.:• News reports• Positive and neutral

jokes• Fakes

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/@snurb_dot_info

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