Let's face it, 2016 was a memorable year. At Affinio, we get to run analyses on almost any hot topic happening in the news – whether it be political, sports-related, or breaking pop culture news. And there were a lot of hot topics happening over the course of 2016. That’s why we created this SlideShare where we take a look back at the year of 2016 and highlight some of the biggest newsworthy events through the lens of affinity data.

1. [ ]AFFINITY DATA TELLS
THE STORIES OF 2016

2. At Affinio, we get to run analyses on almost any hot topic
happening in the news – whether it be political, sports-
related, or breaking pop culture news. Each and every day
our team members run dozens of reports to understand
who is impacted by these events and discover cultural
insights that weren’t possible to see until now. However,
not all of these newsworthy topics and insights get shared
on our blog. That’s why we created this SlideShare where
we take a look back at the year of 2016 and highlight some
of the biggest newsworthy events using affinity data.
Data Tells The Story of 2016

3. Affinio is an advanced marketing intelligence platform
that leverages the interest graph to understand today’s
consumers. Behind Affinio is an advanced, incredibly
powerful, and award-winning technology that mines the
billions of relational network connections that exist within
any given audience. Using our deep learning and custom
network engine, Affinio can analyze these relationships to
develop a cultural fingerprint for each user. Analyzing
what people choose to follow extracts knowledge and
cultural insights from your entire audience. This sheds light
for the first time on who each audience segment is, what
they are influenced by, what they talk about, share, and
ultimately care most about.
How Affinio Analyses Work

4. JANUARY
The World Health Organization announces
that the Zika Virus is likely to spread
throughout the Americas by year end
In January 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that
the Zika Virus was likely to spread throughout most of the Americas by
the end of 2016. The news of the epidemic flooded world headlines. We
analyzed what interest-based communities were talking about the “Zika
Virus” over a 30-day period.

5. JANUARY
Communities including:
UK Sports Fans
American Liberals
World Health Activists
and two Bot clusters were
found.
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities talking about “ZikaVirus”

6. 01/10/2016
Music fans mourn the death of rock star,
David Bowie
On January 10, 2016, English rock star, David Bowie died of Cancer at the
age of 69. Bowie was best known for his eclectic style, hit songs, and
influence in popular music. On the announcement of his death, fans
worldwide took to Twitter to praise the star. We analyzed the followers
of @DavidBowieReal to begin to understand his diverse fan base and
who he attracted.

7. 01/10/2016
David captured the hearts
of many, including:
Fashion Lovers
Millennial Students
Italian Pop Music Fans
Sports Fans
Rock Fans
Audience Visualization @DavidBowieReal

8. 01/13/2016
US Weekly announces that One Direction
is splitting
In our Affinio analyses, there are a few clusters that are almost always
guaranteed to appear in large audiences. One of these clusters is a
community of “Directioners” – extreme One Direction fans. Sadly, 2016
marked the demise of the British boy-band.
What can we learn about the Directioners? We ran a report on anyone
who self-describes on Twitter as a “Directioner.” Take a look at some of
the overall audience insights extracted from our platform:

9. 01/13/2016
Top Bio Keywords of the Overall AudienceTop Interests of the Overall Audience
Top Emoji's of the Overall Audience Top Locations of the Overall Audience

10. 02/07/2016
Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50
against Carolina Panthers
On February 7th the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in
the Super Bowl 50 game. The game also marked the end of Peyton
Manning, the Denver QB’s, career. Pre-Super Bowl, we analyzed the
audiences of the Broncos and Panthers to see how their fan bases
differed.
Who are the true Denver fans and who are the true Carolina fans?

11. 02/07/2016
Audience Visualization @Broncos

12. 02/07/2016
Audience Visualization @Panthers

13. 02/15/2016
Viral video, Damn Daniel, takes the
internet by storm
On February 15, California teen, Joshua Holz, tweeted a video shouting
“Damn Daniel” while zooming in on his friend, Daniel Lara’s, footwear.
Most notably, his white Vans shoes. It might not sound like the makings of
a creative masterpiece, but the Internet thought otherwise. After the
video was posted it garnered enough favorites, retweets, and conversation
that Daniel had suddenly, and unexpectedly, become Internet
famous. We ran a couple of reports during the midst of the phase to see
who was talking about #DamnDaniel, who is following him, and who the
groups were behind his instant popularity.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

14. 02/15/2016
Who’s talking about #DamnDaniel? Who’s following DanielLara?
The two visualizations are extremely different. The first, those who tweeted the
#DamnDaniel hashtag, is much more segmented than the second visualization, showing
those who follow @Daniel_Laraa. We can assume that the clusters talking about
#DamnDaniel are likely participating in the conversation because it became newsworthy.

15. 03/31/2016
Tesla reveals its Model 3 electric car
On March 31 Tesla revealed its Model 3, its most affordable electric car to
date. On the heels of the announcement, more than 325,000 people put
down a $1,000 deposit down on the car which wouldn’t be arriving until
late 2017. Starting at $35,000 (USD) and boasting more than 215 miles of
range per charge, this flashy new EV is opening the electric vehicle market
to a whole new audience.
For those of us who require immediate satisfaction, we wondered what
you could buy today that would be comparable to the Model 3. In January,
Chevrolet announced the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV, an attractive electric vehicle
with similar range and comparable starting price to the Model 3. We were
curious to learn the difference between Tesla EV fans and Chevy EV fans.
To understand further, we ran an interest-based segmentation on the
@ChevyVolt and @TeslaMotors Twitter handles using the Affinio platform.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

16. 03/31/2016
Tesla 3 Audience Chevy Volt Audience
To learn more about which car is dominating in ideal ‘EV’ communities, we ran a
competitive analysis between @TeslaMotors and @ChevyVolt to understand further.

17. 03/31/2016
@ChevyVolt @TeslaMotors
Software Developers Sustainability
Movie + Entertainment Space + Science Business
Sports Fans

18. 04/03/2016
11.5 million confidential documents are
published in the Panama Papers
scandal
In April, 11.5 million leaked documents surfaced on the web that
contained detail financial and attorney-client information for more than
210,000 offshore entities. These leaked documents were dubbed the
“Panama Papers” and illustrated how wealthy individuals and public
figures were keeping their financial information private. The story
exploded in the media and the hashtag #PanamaPapers trended
worldwide. We analyzed anyone using the hashtag:

19. 04/03/2016
This audience is comprised of 132,378 unique individuals who mentioned the
#PanamaPapers over a 30-day period.

20. 04/23/2016
Beyoncé releases visual album,
Lemonade, on Tidal
On April 23, 2016, Beyoncé released her sixth studio album titled,
Lemonade. The album made headlines as it alluded that her husband,
rapper, Jay-Z, had an affair. While the media was quick to report on the
scandal, Beyoncé's biggest fans, The Beyhive, stood behind Queen B.
We decided to take a look at The Beyhive community to understand
more about Queen B’s most devoted fans.

21. Top Interests of the Overall Audience
04/23/2016
All
Beyoncé-
related
Interests

22. Top Bio Keywords of the Overall AudienceTop Emoji's of the Overall Audience
Top Locations of the Overall Audience
04/23/2016
Note the
Lemon and
Bumble Bee
emoji’s!

23. 05/02/2016
Underdog team, Leicester City Football
Club, wins the Barclays Premier League
Title
Monday, May 2nd, 2016 was a historic day for sports fans around the
world. One of the greatest sporting achievements was made official as
Leicester City Football Club were crowned champions of the Barclays
Premier League. England’s Barclays Premier League is considered one of
the most lucrative and prestigious soccer leagues in the world.
At Affinio we had been tracking the @LCFC official Twitter handle since
the middle of April to see what effects the developing story had on the
Leicester audience. The graph on the next slide shows the daily growth
of Leicester's Twitter followers and the spike the day they became
champions!

24. 05/02/2016
This graph shows the daily growth in followers and a spike on the last day
when Leicester won the Barclays Premier League.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

25. 05/16/2016
Brooks Running launches Rule40
campaign pre-Olympic Games
On May 16, the first tweet was shared from an undercover Twitter
account, @Rule40. The account was part of a campaign, "Rule 40," that
protested a rule that bars non-Olympic sponsors from marketing their
athletes during the Games. Behind the campaign was Brooks Running,
who was barred under Rule 40.
We took a look at anyone mentioningthe Rule 40 campaign leading up
to the Games.

26. 05/16/2016
This visualization shows the
different interest-based
communities talking about
“Rule 40” leading up to the
Olympic Games.
Communities such as
Triathletes, Track + Field
athletes, and Journalists
shared their thoughts.
One interesting cluster is the
Oiselle Team cluster – Oiselle
is a women’s brand and
apparel line. Oiselle Founder,
Sally Bergesen, publically
shared her criticism of the
Rule 40 restriction leading up
to the Games. It looks like she
got her whole team talking
about the Rule and backing
her!
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities talking about “Rule 40”

27. 06/09/2016
US President, Barack Obama, endorses
Hillary Clinton as Democratic
Presidential Nominee
“I don’t think there’s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office,”
stated Barack Obama in a video released on June 9, 2016. Obama’s
support of Clinton marked the beginning of a brutal campaign trail
against Republican Presidential Nominee, Donald Trump.
We analyzed the audience of Hillary Clinton after the Obama
endorsement to understand who was #WithHer.

28. 06/09/2016
Audience Visualization @HillaryClinton
Hillary captured the
attention of many,
including:
Moms
Fashionistas
Digital Marketers
Hispanics
Hillary has a
small
Republican
following – this
group was likely
following her to
stay up to date
with the latest
Election news!

29. 06/19/2016
Cleveland Cavaliers win their first NBA
Championship Title against the Golden
State Warriors
On June 19, the Cleveland Cavaliers took home the NBA Championship
Title against the Golden State Warriors.
Before the championship, we wanted to understand who was cheering
for #ALLIN216 or #DUBNATION. To this, we ran an interest-based
segmentation on the combined followers of
the @CAVS and @Warriors Twitter handles. This segmentation analysis
lets us understand who was “winning” in each interest-based audience
cluster. Results on the next slide:
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

30. 03/31/2016
@Warriors @Cavs
Pop Culture Mommies Rap & Hip-Hop
Ballers Sportscaster Fans Teens
Marketing + Tech

31. 06/23/2016
Britain voted to leave the European
Union in “Brexit” EU Referendum
In a historic referendum and upset on June 23, 2016, Britain voted to
leave the European Union. The vote was considered a ”shock vote” and
many were left stunned.
We analyzed the #VoteLeave enthusiasts to understand the culture of
Brexit.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

32. 06/23/2016
Top Interests of the #VoteLeave Audience
Political figures (the past and
current) such as Nigel Farage,
David Jones, and Matt Davies,
as well as the UK
Independence Party all
placed as top
influences/interests for the
Vote Leave community.
Notice how many of the
interest profiles have the
“Vote Leave” logo as their
profile photo?

33. 06/23/2016
Top Hashtags
Top hashtags such as #brexit, #leaveeu, and #ivotedleave appear amongst this
audience. While “Remain” also appears as a hashtag, based on the influencers,
content, and other top performing hashtags shared by this audience, we can
assume that the context of “Remain” is negative.
Bio Keywords including UKIP, Brexit, and Vote Leave indicate a clear political
stance of members.
Top Bio Keywords

34. JULY
As of mid-July, there were 112 Black Lives
Matter protests in 88 American cities
The New York Times reported that as of mid-July there had been over
112 Black Lives Matter protests in the States after two fatal police
shootings.
We analyzed anyone talking about “Black Lives Matter” on Twitter to
begin to understand what communities are standing behind the
movement that campaigns against violence and racism towards black
people in the United States.

35. JULY
Interest-based communities
contributing to the Black
Lives Matter dialogue include:
Pop Culture
Conservatives
Black Activist
Trump Train
Bernie’s Revolutionaries
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities talking about “Black Lives Matter”

36. 07/06/2016
Pokémon Go app is released
It wouldn’t be a 2016 round up without mentioning the app that
everyone went crazy over, right!? Pokémon Go was released on July 6,
2016, and within two days of its launch had been installed on more
Android devices in the US than Tinder and was well on its way in
surpassing Twitter in daily active users! Not to mention it was making
Nintendo roughly $1.6 million per day… not bad.
We analyzed the audiences talking about the game to understand who
they really are and what they care about outside of Pokémon Go.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

37. 07/06/2016
Interest-based communities
talking about “Pokémon Go”
include:
Sports Fans
Gamers
Millennial Fans
eSports
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities talking about “Pokémon Go”

38. 07/18/2016
#KimExposedTaylorParty trends
worldwide after Kim Kardashian leaks a
video of Taylor Swift lying
On July 18, 2016, an epic celebrity battle went down – Kim Kardashian
called out Taylor Swift by posting a Snapchat video of Swift lying on
camera. In 2016, Kim Kardashian’s husband, Kanye West, released a
song that shared lyrics about Taylor Swift. Swift’s PR team was quick to
respond and claimed that Taylor did not approve of the song.
Kardashian then shared a video of West speaking to Swift on
speakerphone, asking for the approval of the song before it was
released. Taylor, while being filmed, agreed. Once the video was shared,
fans turned on Swift and took to Twitter to share their disappointment
using the hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty.

39. 07/18/2016
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities using the #KimExposedTaylorParty
hashtag
Interest-based communities
include:
Kardashian Klan
One Direction Fans
Black Lives Matter Activists
Politics & Media
Entertainment

40. 08/05/2016
The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de
Janeiro begin
Every four years the nations of the world come together to celebrate
sports, sportsmanship, and international competition. This year the
Summer Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 5 to
August 21, 2016. More than 11,000 athletes from over 205 countries
participated.
We analyzed the @Olympics audience to understand what interest-
based communities were attracted to the social aspect of the Games.

41. 08/05/2016 Audience Visualization of @Olympics

42. 09/26/2016
The first US Presidential Debate, Hillary
Clinton VS Donald Trump, is held at
Hofstra University
On September 26, 2016, the first of three Presidential Debates between
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was held. A record-breaking +80
million viewers tuned in to see the two Presidential Candidates battle it
out.
We ran an analysis on anyone talking about the Debates to understand
the wide draw the event attracted:
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

43. 09/26/2016
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities talking about the ”Debates”

44. 10/12/2016
Viral video sensation, The Mannequin
Challenge, starts in US classrooms
Every so often, a trend comes along that takes the internet by storm
and it seems like everyone is participating. Say hello to the latest trend
in pop culture: The Mannequin Challenge. The Mannequin Challenge
are a series of videos where people imitate mannequins and freeze in
place while music is playing. These videos are then shared with the
hashtag, #MannequinChallenge. The Mannequin Challenge first
appeared on October 12, 2016, when high school students in the United
States began performing the challenge in classrooms.
Using Affinio, we identified over 213,284 unique individuals mentioning
the "#MannequinChallenge" on Twitter in the past thirty days.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

45. 10/12/2016
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities using #MannequinChallenge
Top Locations of the Overall Audience
It’s Not Just The Teens!
Although the trend started in high
school classrooms, Sports-related
communities have also been quick to
pick up on the craze. Many NFL
teams and Sports Broadcasters
created videos, including the Dallas
Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. The
trend also spread outside of the
United States!

46. 10/27/2016
Twitter announces that Vine is shutting
down
On October 27, 2016, Twitter announced its plans to shut down their
video app, Vine. Vine, which was acquired by Twitter in 2012, rose to
fame quickly with over 200 million active users. However, as
competitors like Snapchat and Instagram grew their video capabilities,
apps like Vine were pushed out. According to Twitter, nothing is
changing immediately, and the Vine app will remain online for the
short future.
Shortly after the news broke, the hashtag #RIPVine began trending
worldwide. We decided to analyze it and see who was impacted by the
Vine shutdown.

47. 10/27/2016
This audience is comprised of 143,797 unique individuals who mentioned the
#RipVine over a 30-day period. The biggest communities impacted? Teen Girls
and Sports Fans!

48. 11/02/2016
The Chicago Cubs win the World Series
On November 2, 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series
Champion after defeating the Cleveland Indians in an intense Game 7!
This was the first World Series win for the team since 1908!
We wanted to learn more about Chicago fans – who they are and what
matters most. Using the Affinio platform, we analyzed anyone following
the Cubs on Twitter.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

49. 11/02/2016
Audience Visualization @Cubs

50. 11/02/2016
Top Domains Shared of the Overall Audience
Interesting
Insight:
Bad News! The
Cubs Fans’ Top-
Shared Domain
is Vine!
Top Shared Hashtags Top Bio Keywords

51. 11/08/2016
The Oxford Dictionary announces its
Word of the Year is Post-truth
Last year the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year was an emoji; this year
the word of the year is “post-truth.” Post-Truth is an adjective defined as
“relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less
influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and
personal belief.”
The Oxford Dictionary chose this word as it has become associated with
the phrase post-truth politics, referencing the outcome of the EU
Referendum and the USA Presidential Election.

52. 11/08/2016
Political Interest-Based
Communities were ignited
by the choice of “Post-
Truth” as the Word of the
Year.
Note the cluster, "Labour
Party UK," who voted
primarily Remain in the EU
Referendum.
Audience Visualization of the interest-based
communities talking about “Post-Truth”

53. 11/09/2016
Donald Trump wins the US Presidential
Election
On Tuesday, November 9, 2016, it was announced that The Republican
Party Candidate, Donald Trump and running-mate, Governor Mike
Pence defeated the Democratic Party Candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton
and her running-mate, Senator Tim Kaine in the US Presidential
Election.
We analyzed the audience of @realDonaldTrump to better understand
the audiences he won over in the controversial election.
READ
THE FULL
BLOG

54. 11/09/2016
Audience Visualization of @realDonaldTrump

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