#MAGA and #MeToo: A Tale of Two Hashtags

#MAGA and # MeToo are two hashtags at odds with each other that represent the opposite ends of the political spectrum in 2010s America. While #MeToo was very explicitly a Twitter-borne movement, #MAGA (acronym for #MakeAmericaGreatAgain) is a slogan of a presidentical campaign and resulting presidency very much driven by the Twitter horn.

This visualization tracks the history of each hashtag's popularity over the course of time, as well as seeing how other hashtags come into play in a particular time period specified by you.

Event Significance

Comparing the #MeToo trends to #MAGA’s in the October 2017-April 2018 period, one can see that #MeToo popularity is probably a lot more event-dependent than #MAGA with more extreme peaks.

This however is less the case with #MAGA (or, in this case, #MakeAmericaGreatAgain)’s trends in 2015 when it started becoming more commonly used in Twitter.

What about other #hashtags?

When writing tweets, you’re not restricted to just using one hashtag! The following graphics show the top 20 most popular associated hashtags for #MAGA and #MeToo.

Hashtag usage tends to be heavier with #MAGA, but #MeToo tweets feature more hashtags that refer to the other side of the spectrum including #MAGA itself (4th most popular). Both hashtags also give love to #resist and #theresistance, although possibly under different contexts.

So... what might you look for?

How do notable events affect each hashtag, if at all?

Does one hashtag's popularity affect the other's?

Is there an interaction between the two sides of the spectrum in the content of the tweets?