So, sometimes things grind along veeeeery slowly in the background, and eventually, finally, at long last, I get to them. This has been one of those slow-burn projects. To understand what’s going on, it’s worth briefly casting our eyes back to this post. Alternatively, if you want a very short overview, then here it is…

On the 26^th of May, 2016, Demos thinktank’s Centre for the Analysis of Social Media (CASM) presented the results of an investigation into the use of misogynistic terms on Twitter to the House of Commons. This work was a collaboration between the thinktank Demos and the TAG laboratory at the University of Sussex, and the release of the report was timed to coincide with a political, cross-party campaign, Recl@im the Internet. Launched by Labour MP Yvette Cooper, the aim of Recl@im the Internet is described thus: Continue reading →

With her absence from Camp David this weekend, Melania Trump’s absence continues into the 24^th day, and as time passes, the number of theories about her disappearance are increasing. Twitter is an excellent source for these if you’re interested, but the main ones appear to be that she is secretly giving evidence to Mueller; that she is back in New York with her son; and that she is busy instigating divorce proceedings.

However, whilst all of that foments away in the background, something quite different caught my eye – the highlighted tweet below from @MELANIATRUMP back on the 18^th of October 2013:

@realDonaldTrump: I love watching the dishonest writers @NYMag suffer the magazine’s failure.

@DanAmira: Your wife is waiting for you to die (…)

@MELANIATRUMP: @DanAmira @NYMag Only a dumb “animal” would say that! You should be fired from your failing magazine! (Link)

Intriguingly, in 2016, New Yorker noted about this very tweet that, “One couldn’t help but detect Donald’s influence when Melania fired off [this] reply”, and plenty of users replied with similar questions about precisely who might have written it. Continue reading →

As we speak (01^st June 2018), interesting conspiracies are breaking across some news networks about Melania Trump. The First Lady has allegedly not been seen in public for twenty days, and according to White House sources, she is recovering from an operation. However, the increasing concern for her welfare was heightened with the latest (as of this moment) tweet from her FLOTUS account on Wednesday 30^th May which reads:

I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I’m doing.  Rest assured, I’m here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people! (Link)

The reaction by some to this tweet was an immediate cynicism that she had written it. Some felt that it was authored by Trump, and others demanded to see her holding a current newspaper. So, is that tweet truly unusual for the First Lady? Or is this a case of mass-confirmation-bias, where many people who already hold Donald Trump in contempt have simply found another possible avenue of attack? I thought I’d have a look at it out of curiosity and see what I could see. Continue reading →