New Media

The riots in the United Kingdom dominated the world of social media last week. On Twitter, there was little empathy for the grievances of those participating as far more people expressed anger and fear at what was occurring. On YouTube, the most watched videos were focused on the mayhem during the looting and chaos.

The deal to raise the debt ceiling in Washington drew harsh criticism from both the left and the right last week as the subject received significant attention on blogs, Twitter and YouTube. The other subject to generate substantial interest on both blogs and Twitter was news about a teen pop star.

A comparison between the Tea Party and characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy generated a lively debate on the blogosphere last week. Twitter users complained about Formula 1auto racing. And the most viewed videos on YouTube depicted the carnage from the July 22 attacks in Norway.

The multiple attacks that struck Norway echoed throughout social media last week. This special edition of PEJ’s New Media Index is an in-depth look at the complex conversation on blogs, where the ideological views of the assailant, Anders Behring Breivik, became a significant point of discussion.

Twitter users continued to voice their displeasure at Rupert Murdoch last week, and a discussion of the scandal affecting his company was among the top videos on YouTube. On blogs, the No. 1 story was about the federal government’s ruling that marijuana has no accepted medical use.

Rupert Murdoch’s troubles produced an outpouring of anger and emotion on Twitter last week. On blogs, the possibility that the White House will leave troops in Iraq beyond 2011 triggered a debate. And on YouTube, footage of an enormous sandstorm that engulfed Phoenix received over a million views.

Criticism of a 2012 GOP presidential candidate dominated the conversation on blogs last week, while Twitter users got excited over a new social networking tool from Google. On YouTube, strange objects in the air over London generated the most views.

Bloggers, last week, overwhelmingly disapproved of President Obama’s proposal to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. But what they called for instead varied greatly—from wanting all the troops home to calls for sending more support.

Bloggers last week dug into a financial disaster surrounding a controversial war. On Twitter, science stories, including an eclipse and global warming, led the way. And the top YouTube video showed the downside of a social media misstep.

The new Apple operating system sent Twitter users buzzing last week while bloggers kept a close eye on a courtroom battle over the new health care law. And on YouTube, Sarah Palin’s retelling of Paul Revere’s ride was the lead video.