bridge outreach
1021 tentative<div>
</div><div>this is like a hub, but reaches diverse groups</div><div>
</div><div>child molester was hook for women into qanon</div><div>
</div><div>red pill?</div><div>
</div><div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>The top 10 pages that earned the most interactions between January 1 and September 21 were:</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>1. Ben Shapiro, a right-leaning page which earned nearly 392 million interactions on nearly 25,000 posts.</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>Occupy Democrats,</b> a left-leaning page which earned over 280 million interactions on over 10,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Fox News</span>, a right-leaning page which earned nearly 275 million interactions on over 12,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Dan Bongino</span>, a right-leaning page which earned nearly 208 million interactions on over 6,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>Daily Mail</b>, a right-leaning page which earned over 166 million interactions on nearly 35,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">UNICEF, an ideologically nonaligned page which earned over 156 million interactions on over 1,000 posts. (UNICEF has partnered with Facebook for public health education, and Facebook’s info panel has been boosting the page’s posts.)</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>Breitbart,</b> a right-leaning page with over 150 million interactions on over 13,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Newsmax</span>, a right-leaning page with over 130 million interactions on over 15,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>CNN, an ideologically nonaligned page </b>with nearly 130 million interactions on over 14,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"> 10 T<b>rending World by The Epoch Times</b>, a right-leaning page with more than 117 million interactions on nearly 9,000 posts.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">In comparison to 2020, there are two new right-leaning pages in this year’s top 10 list: Newsmax and Trending World by The Epoch Times. Newsmax’s newfound popularity on Facebook seems to follow a similar trend as its viewership, which increased as former President Donald Trump simultaneously promoted the right-wing outlet and criticized Fox News during his final months in office, while Trending World by The Epoch Times appears to have found success by promoting video-based content in accordance with Facebook’s tweaked algorithm.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>Right-leaning pages earned nearly three times more average interactions for video content than posts containing links -- and far more than other political and news-related pages</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Facebook often focuses on how posts with links are used to spread misinformation, but photos and videos posted by right-leaning pages also spread sensational, false, and divisive content. </span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Between January 1 and September 21, right-leaning pages earned nearly 2.3 billion interactions on roughly 1 million posts with links -- or roughly 2,300 average interactions per post. </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">During the same time frame, right-leaning pages earned nearly three times more average interactions per post with video than per post with links. Roughly 188,000 posts with videos from right-leaning pages -- including native videos, live videos, and YouTube videos -- earned over 1.2 billion interactions, or nearly 6,500 average interactions per post.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>In fact, of the top 100 posts from right-leaning Facebook pages in 2021, 82 were posts with native video, earning roughly 120 million interactions, including posts from Donald Trump Jr., Fox News host Sean Hannity, and other conservative voices that featured sensational content: [VIDS]</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Sean Hannity_facebook post_20210530</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>
</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>Benny Johnson</b>_facebook post_20210511</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Don Jr_facebook post_20210120</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Don Jr_facebook post_20210119</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">While ideologically nonaligned pages posted the most links and videos during the studied time period, it was right-leaning pages that earned the most interactions for each of these post types. Most notably, right-leaning pages accounted for roughly 30% of all posts with videos from political and news-related pages, but they earned nearly 60% of the interactions.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Proportion of posts with links and proportion of interactions for these posts:</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Ideological breakdown of posts with links (and interactions earned) on Facebook pages posting about politics_updated</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Proportion of posts with videos and proportion of interactions for these posts:</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Ideological breakdown of posts with videos (and interactions earned) on Facebook pages posting about politics_update</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Average interactions earned per video post by right-leaning pages increased from 2020 to 2021. The same for ideologically nonaligned and left-leaning pages decreased.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Right-leaning pages earned more average interactions per post with video than other political and news-related pages in both 2020 and 2021. In fact, right-leaning pages earned nearly 6,500 interactions per post with video in 2021, which is more than the average 5,600 interactions per post with video in 2020. </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Comparatively, nonaligned pages and left-leaning pages both earned less average interactions per post with video in 2021 than the previous year. Left-leaning pages earned roughly 2,000 interactions per post with video, less than half of the 4,200 interactions per post with video earned in 2020. Ideologically nonaligned pages earned roughly 1,800 interactions per post with video in 2021, slightly less than the 2,000 interactions per post with video in 2020.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Right-wing media outlet The Epoch Times earned significant engagement on seemingly innocuous videos, which can be a bridge to more extreme content</span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Of the top 100 posts from right-leaning Facebook pages this year, 53 were native videos from two Facebook pages affiliated with right-wing media outlet The Epoch Times, which has often spread pro-Trump conspiracy theories alongside its affiliate New Tang Dynasty (NTD). Its Facebook pages The Epoch Times and Trending World by The Epoch Times have roughly 15 million combined followers, and these 53 videos earned over 82 million interactions.</span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Between January 1 and September 21, the two pages posted nearly 20,000 times, and 62% of those posts featured links. Links to articles from the right-wing media outlet included pro-Trump talking points, misleading and false COVID-19 and vaccine information, election misinformation, misleading information about the January 6 insurrection, and anti-Biden talking points.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>
</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;"><b>Notable posts with sensational and false content from The Epoch Times include:</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">The Epoch Times_facebook post_20210923</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">The Epoch Times_facebook post_20210107_2</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">The Epoch Times_facebook post_20210107_3</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">The Epoch Times_facebook post_20210918</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">The Epoch Times_facebook post_20210502</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">While the majority of posts from these two Facebook pages included links, nearly all of their interactions -- over 195 million, or more than 95% of total engagement -- were earned on posts with videos (<b>native videos,</b> live videos, and YouTube videos). In fact, seven of the top 20 posts from all political and news-related pages during the same time frame were seemingly innocuous videos from The Epoch Times’ two pages. These videos earned hundreds of millions of views. However, these videos can easily lead users to more extreme content from The Epoch Times, including misinformation, if they follow links in other posts on the pages.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Trending World by The Epoch Times_facebook video_20210615</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Over 3.7 million interactions and 39 million views</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Trending World by The Epoch Times_facebook video_20210720</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Over 3.5 million interactions and 78 million views</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">The Epoch Times_facebook video_20210629</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large;">Over 3.4 million interactions and 93 million views</div></div>