The internet was all abuzz about two things this week: the historic comet landing, and Kim Kardashian's nude butt on the cover of Paper Magazine. Both stories garnered huge levels of attention, with Kardashian looking to "break the internet" as others lamented the fate of a human race that pays more attention to nude celebrities than monumental feats of scientific discovery.
But data doesn't lie, and the truth might surprise you. As it turns out, Kardashian couldn't actually break the internet (or Twitter) despite her best efforts, and the comet landing proved to be more popular on the social media site.
The Wall Street Journal tracked the number of times in 24 hours #breaktheinternet was used on Twitter starting at 11 a.m. eastern time on November 12, grouping it with tweets that contained the word Kardashian as well. The site then compared it to the number of times the word "comet" was mentioned in tweets during the same 24 hour period, along with the use of tweets containing #cometlanding.
The results? Not only did the comet landing rack up more tweets (479,434 to be exact) compared to Kardashian's 307,782, but the general sentiment of comet landing tweets also proved to be more positive. Sentiment is a rating system used by analytics company Topsy to judge how positive or negative a tweet is, with 50 being a neutral sentiment. Tweets about Kardashian averaged a negative sentiment of 43, while comet landing tweets sit at a positive 64.
It makes for a fascinating look into the power of social media and perceptions. For a detailed look at the tweet breakdown, check out the charts below and go to the Wall Street Journal for more information.
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment
