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Red & Dead: A Case Study of Viral News Spread

This case study examines how social media played a critical role in spreading news of The Red & Dead, a digital-only publication established after the resignation of student editors from The Red & Black. Through content analysis and social network analysis, the study explores the rapid dissemination of news on Twitter, the audience-building strategies employed, and the factors contributing to the publication's significant online presence. The findings underscore the impact of social media, targeted outreach, and viral nature in achieving visibility and audience engagement. Traditional news outlets, influential journalists, and strategic use of social media emerged as key drivers in amplifying the publication's reach. The study sheds light on the evolving dynamics of news dissemination, audience cultivation, and the intersection of traditional and digital media platforms in the contemporary journalistic landscape.

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Red & Dead: A Case Study of Viral News Spread

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  1. Read, Not Dead: A Case Study of #redanddead Viral News Spread 14thInternational Symposium on Online Journalism. University of Texas, Austin. 04/19/2013 Geoffrey M. Graybeal, JiranHou, and Carmen Hernández-Ojeda

  2. Intro August 2012, The Red & Black shifts control from student editors to hired professionals. Students resign; form digital-only publication, The Red & Dead. Twitter account: @redanddead815; #redanddead Facebook Page: Red & Dead.

  3. Literature Review • News content on Twitter Networks. • Few studies on journalism/breaking news (Brown-Smith, 2012). • Traditional news orgs primary source of info (Lariscy, Avery, Sweetser, &Howes, 2009). • Online Influences (Cha, Haddadi, Benevenuto & Gummadi, 2010). • User influence-content based (news)/conversational based (celebrities). • Topical influence. • Information flow and Twitter/Preferential Attachment (Himelboim, McCreery & Smith, 2011; Himelboim & Han, 2012).

  4. Research Questions RQ1: What role did social media play in spreading news of Red & Dead? RQ2:How did news of The Red & Black editors’ resignation spread through Twitter so quickly? RQ3: How were the Red & Black editors able to build a sizable audience for a digital-only publication?

  5. Methods • Content analysis. • 500 tweets from the @redanddead815 between Aug 15 to Aug 21, 2012. • 111 articles pulled from the Internet. • Social network analysis. • ATwitter-topic network of The Red and Dead. • 304 Twitter users and 840 user relationships were captured.

  6. RQ 1. What role did social media play in spreading news of Red & Dead? • 80% of @redanddead815 tweets were posted during the account’s first three days. • Red & Dead asked for followers and influencers to spread the news. • Half of Aug. 15 tweets fell into the request and outsider influence categories.

  7. RQ 1. What role did social media play in spreading news of Red & Dead? Red & Dead Timeline

  8. RQ 2. How did news of The Red & Black editors’ resignation spread through Twitter so quickly? Red & Black alumni, ties. • Journalism. • Influential journalists first tweeted. • Professional organizations and advocacy groups. • Student journalists. • Red & Dead specific strategy. • Targeted influential people and organizations.

  9. RQ 2. Findings

  10. RQ 2. Findings “We worked hard to make sure the right people knew about our situation.” Lindsey Cook(@lindzcook) 950,000 followers 100,000 followers

  11. RQ 2. Findings

  12. RQ 2. Findings

  13. RQ 3. How were the Red & Black editors able to build a sizable audience for a digital-only publication? 126,000 page views w/in 36 hrs. • News coverage. • Viral nature. • Social media. • Tweets drove traffic. • Key document. • Stories covering the incident referenced the blog publication. • Name recognition.

  14. RQ 3. Findings

  15. RQ 3. Findings

  16. RQ 3. Findings

  17. Discussion • Traditional news still matters. • Key players spreading content through SNSs. • News coverage  audience. • Journalists pivotal in enabling story to “go viral.” • Ambient journalism. • Topical influencers spread info (resonated beyond Georgia). • Student Press Freedom, college media, journalism.

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