Paper by Theresa Sauter and Axel Bruns, presented at the Association of Internet Researchers conference, Denver, 25 Oct. 2013.

1. #Pontiff-Ex: The Twitter
Community’s Reaction
to the Papal Resignation
Dr. Theresa Sauter / Assoc. Prof. Axel Bruns
ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, Australien
t.sauter / a.bruns @ qut.edu.au
@lena_sauter / @snurb_dot_info

2. INTRODUCTION
• Twitter:
– Increasing Twitter, Inc. focus on celebrity accounts
– Encouragement for „ordinary‟ users to become “listeners” (Kate
Crawford)
• e.g. Suggested User List during account creation
– Global celebrities with follower numbers in the millions
• The papal Twitter account:
– @pontifex (and language variations) set up in December 2012
– Used by Benedict XVI, then archived and wiped following resignation
– Reactivated by Francis after his election
– Tweets by / at @pontifex captured since 3 Dec. 2012 (within API limits)

5. @PONTIFEX
•
9
9 papal accounts:
– @pontifex (English)
– Latin, German, Spanish, Portugue
se, Polish, Italian, French, Arabic
•
@pontifex:
– Followers: 1.6m (28 Feb.
2013), 3m+ (today)
Following: 8 (the other @pontifex
accounts)
•
No @replies sent to date

6. RESEARCH APPROACH
• Methods:
– Tweets by and at @pontifex gathered via yourTwapperkeeper
– Likely to have reached API limits (1% of global Twitter volume) during
periods of extreme attention
– Calculation of various standard metrics (cf. Bruns & Stieglitz 2013):
• Volume, userbase distribution, most active / most visible users
• Analysis:
– Two key phases: Benedict XVI vs. sede vacante + Francis

7. TIMELINE
Sede Vacante period

8. RESEARCH APPROACH
• Methods:
– Tweets by and at @pontifex gathered via yourTwapperkeeper
– Likely to have reached API limits (1% of global Twitter volume) during
periods of extreme attention
– Calculation of various standard metrics (cf. Bruns & Stieglitz 2013):
• Volume, userbase distribution, most active / most visible users
• Analysis:
– Two key phases: Benedict XVI vs. sede vacante + Francis
– Qualitative exploration of most active and most visible users‟ activities
• Categorisation of user types
• Identification of user attitudes and sentiments

9. @MENTIONS OF @PONTIFEX ACCOUNTS
3 D E C . 2 0 1 2 TO 3 1 M A R . 2 0 1 3

10. USER ACTIVITIES, 10-28 FEB. 2013

11. USER ACTIVITIES, 1-31 MAR. 2013

12. @MENTION PATTERNS
• Large volume of @mentions of the @pontifex account
– Flat activity distribution: lead users contribute relatively little
– Commenting rather than information sharing:
• Very small percentage of tweets containing URLs
• Smallish percentage of retweets
• Very few retweets especially by most active users –
the long tail of participants contributes the most retweets
– More activity around Benedict XVI‟s resignation than Francis‟s
election and inauguration

13. ENGAGEMENT AND RESONANCE
• Further qualitative investigation:
– Most active and most visible users (top 30):
• Active = number of tweets sent mentioning @pontifex
• Visible = @mentioned in tweets also mentioning @pontifex
– Qualitative examination of:
• User profile (as of mid-2013)
• Tweets sent or @mentioned in
– Development of preliminary categories for users and tweets
– Tweets/profiles in languages other than English ignored unless
intelligible to the researchers

14. @REPLIERS:
MOST ACTIVE ACCOUNTS

15. @REPLIERS: CLASSIFICATION SCHEMA
• Attitudes:
– Positive / neutral / negative towards the pope
– Positive / neutral / negative towards the church
– Positive / neutral / negative towards religion
• Other categories:
– Obsessive / unhinged
– Retweet bots
– Other / unintelligible

16. MARCH
FEBRUARY
TOP 30 @REPLIERS - CLASSIFICATION

17. TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES
• Key themes in tweets directed at @pontifex:
– Pro: support, thanks, good wishes
– Anti: criticism of homophobia, paedophilia
– Mixed: supportive of pope but critical of pomp and glory of church and
rituals (especially during February period)
– Mixed: extreme conservativism, concerns over „new ways‟ and
modernisation of the church (especially during March period)
– Obsessive / unhinged: extreme religiosity, seeking direct contact with
pope or god; non-sensical tweets with religious themes

18. TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES
• Pro:
(Retweeted by second most
active @replier, 12 Feb.)
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/02/pontifex-project-week-6/

19. TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES
• Anti:
Catholic World In Shock After POPE Resigns
http://t.co/z7LV2YIp BUT NOT SHOCKED THAT HE
@PONTIFEX HID PEDOFILE PRIESTS WHO
DESTROYED LIVES
(Fifth most active @replier, 12 Feb.)

20. IMAGE TWEETS
(Third most active
@replier, 10 Feb. –
reposted from same
account ~25 times.)

21. TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES
• Mixed:
– critical of pomp and glory of church / rituals, but supportive of
religion as such
@pontifex #askpontifex #catholic #cardinals look at you
#costumes #pride #circus #hypocrit #control you will
elect one of your own? #disgust
(seventh most active @replier, 1 Mar.)

22. TOP 30 @REPLIERS
– THEMES
• Mixed:
– conservative
Catholics, concer
ned about „new
ways‟ /
modernisation of
church
– especially after
Francis‟s election
(19th most active
@replier, 22 Mar.)

23. TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES
• Obsessive / unhinged:
– extreme religiosity; seeking direct contact with Pope/God
[1:] @Pontifex let me tell you a story ... In 2007 I was sitting at school at
Gannon university next to the statue of Jesus teaching
[2:] the whole worlds weight fell on my shoulders I felt the burden of
faith fall in my lap and it was hard to do at that time
[3:] I have been matured and humbled from then it was an ephifiney I
knew what I had to do and now I know how to do it in 2013
[4:] I have come out of the weeds to save the human race once again
in the likeness of the beginning and the end shall nevermore
[5:] that's the light that is in the free drawing I heard from the bloody red
sea of souls
(14th most active @replier, 10 Mar.)

24. TOP 30 @REPLIERS – THEMES
• Obsessive / unhinged:
– nonsensical
@Pontifex AZ(^O^)7 Jesus said viper's
children!repent!Why have you given you hard by
yourself?Why can you want me his words?Robber!Liar!
(Second most active @replier, 16 Feb.)

25. TOP 30 @REPLIERS – ENGAGEMENT
Who engages?
• More supporters than critics, especially during first phase
(Benedict XVI resignation)
•
Peaceful thankyous and goodbyes
• More mixed feelings in second phase
(sede vacante and Francis‟s election and inauguration)
•
Uncertainty, fear of change
• More obsessive / unhinged @mentions in second phase
• Are the Top 30 representative?

26. RECIPIENTS:
MOST VISIBLE ACCOUNTS

27. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – 10-28 FEB. 2013
@robdelaney
@rickygervais
@pontifex_es
@YOUCAT_spanish
@marianorajoy
@Dio
@guglielmoscilla
@BBCBreaking
@SraBilis
@frankieboyle
comedian
comedian
Pope (account in Spanish)
religious (Youth Catechism
of the Catholic Church)
Spanish Prime Minister
god (non-existent)
Italian actor, writer, Youtuber
news
???
comedian

28. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS – 1-31 MAR. 2013
Pontifex_es
JMBergoglio
NicolasMaduro
BBCBreaking
BBCWorld
ESPcatolicos
Pontifex_it
twitterreligion
EPN
CNNEE
Pope (account in Spanish)
Francis (fake account)
President of Venezuela
news
news
“Catholics of Spain”
(unofficial)
Pope (account in Italian)
official Twitter Inc. account
President of Mexico
CNN (account in Spanish)

29. MARCH
FEBRUARY
TOP 30 RECIPIENTS - CLASSIFICATION

30. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS:
SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES
• What has resonance?
– Tweets
– Attitudes
•
•
•
•
Religious
Funny
News
Support
(thankyous / welcome)
• Critical
• Pro
• Anti
• Neutral (light / news)
• Unidentifiable
(no original tweets;
language)
• Unidentifiable

31. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS –
SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES
• Religious:
– Internet personality
@Pontifex Holy Father, millions of people are praying for you.
#catholic #prayer #pope #benedictxvi
(@fatherz, 10 Feb.)

32. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS –
SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES
• Funny:
– Comedian
– Pro
@Pontifex I'll miss you bro. A lot of popes suck, but you were cool.
And fuck me if you're not the best dancer to ever wear that silly hat.
(@robdelaney, 28 Feb)

33. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS –
SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES
• Funny:
– Parody account
– Anti
I forced @Pontifex to resign when I learned that he had abused
Vatican altar boys who were only 53. #cradlerobber.
(@almightygod, 11 Feb)

34. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS –
SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES
• Funny
– Writer
– Neutral

35. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS –
SENTIMENTS AND ATTITUDES
• News:
– News organisation
– Neutral
Pope Benedict XVI becomes first @Pontifex in 600 years to step down #Catholic Church now officially without a #pope
http://t.co/FGGsIDAnqi
(@BBCBreaking, 28 Feb)

36. TOP 30 RECIPIENTS - PATTERNS
•
Accounts @mentioned in tweets to @pontifex:
– Mainly due to retweets of their tweets to / about @pontifex
– Some accounts frequently @mentioned due to comparisons between them and
the Pope (e.g. Spanish PM @marianorajoy)
•
10-28 Feb. 2013:
– Retweets of positive tweets about @pontifex
– Retweets of neutral and negative jokes about @pontifex
– Retweets of neutral news about @pontifex
•
1-31 Mar. 2013:
– Retweets of positive tweets about @pontifex
– Retweets of neutral jokes about @pontifex
– Retweets of neutral news about @pontifex

37. @REPLIERS VS. RECIPIENTS
• @repliers
– 10-28 Feb:
• More support than
criticism
• Thanks and goodbyes
– 1-31 Mar.:
• Mixed feelings
• Fear and uncertainty
• Obsessive and
unhinged
• Recipients:
– 10-28 Feb.:
• News reports
• Critical and neutral
jokes
• Collateral targets
– 1-31 Mar.:
• News reports
• Positive and neutral
jokes
• Fakes

38. http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
@snurb_dot_info
@lena_sauter
@jeanburgess
@dpwoodford
@timhighfield
http://socialmedia.qut.edu.au/
@socialmediaQUT