With the election in the rearview mirror, Alaskans spent December posting about feet upon feet of snow in Anchorage with not a plow in sight, and a meteor threatening to just end it all.
Lisa Murkowski dominated Twitter by shaming Trump, and Sarah Palin used ‘90s-lovable-dad-turned-culture-warrior Tim Allen to complain about the woke mob. Here’s a look at what happened on the interwebs in December.
Lisa Murkowski broke through the liberal Twitter ceiling with one viral tweet
For the first time since tracking began in September, Senator Lisa Murkowski won Alaska Twitter with a viral tweet antagonizing the former President of the United States when he called for the termination of the Constitution.
Suggesting the termination of the Constitution is not only a betrayal of our Oath of Office, it’s an affront to our Republic.
— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) December 5, 2022
In the months surrounding the election, Twitter has been dominated by the Left, so it’s not surprising that an anti-Trump tweet from a Republican had the most engagement we’ve seen from Sen. Murkowski. Rep. Mary Peltola’s win clearly showed Murskowski has the cover to shift further to the left, and now she is crushing Twitter by bashing Trump and posting as many photos as she possibly can with a Democrat. Thanks to Article 1, Section 3 of the aforementioned US Constitution for giving Senators six-year terms and giving Sen. Murkowski the freedom to tweet whatever she wants.
Since August, Rep. Mary Peltolahad the top performing tweet every month, except for in October when State Rep. Genevieve Mina’s Whittier Halloween costume went viral.
The top post of December was a Facebook video of a solstice meteor traveling through the early morning sky from Alaska’s News Source. People on Facebook LOVE sharing videos from doorbell cameras. People on Facebook also LOVE videos of weird objects in the sky. And people on Facebook LOVE thinking about what would happen if Armageddon was a documentary and oil field workers were suddenly our best hope to save the planet.
The fiftieth-best performing post was Sarah Palin saying she unequivocally supports Donald Trump.
Top 10 AK Social Media Presences by Engagement: November to December 2022 Ranking Changes
All data courtesy of the 907 Policy Project / Semrush
Sarah Palin might have lost the election, but she took back the top spot on the combined social media engagement leaderboard. Palin last held that spot in September, after which Peltola held the top spot for two months. As already discussed above, their platforms of choice are clear:
Most of Peltola’s tweets focus on national policy debates and issues.
If someone working full time at the minimum wage can’t afford their basic needs, then there’s a problem — and it’s not the worker.
— Mary Peltola (@MaryPeltola) December 15, 2022
Palin’s posts are more engaged in culture wars about an aging ‘90s television star using his portrayal of a man who accidentally becomes Santa Claus to hate on woke liberals.
The blog The Alaska Landmine jumped into the Top 10 this month thanks to some hard-hitting holiday travel content. Anyone who follows Landmine creator Jeff Landfield on Twitter knows that his thirst to publicly shame people for the size and quantity of their carry-on luggage is unmatched. Is it ironic that a post about a messy baggage claim (filled with luggage that people did not carry on a flight) has put him in the Top 10? Mayyyyyybeeeee.
Speaking of messy and blogs, One Hot Mess is once again in the Top 10 for most engagement. In fact, One Hot Mess had more engagement on Facebook in December Must Read Alaska. How you ask? Well the liberal blogger posts frequently and has consistent engagement about the most evergreen of Alaska topics including, but not limited to, puffy down skirts, costco’s pasta offerings and L48-only shipping.
Both the Alaska Landmine and One Hot Mess AK found common ground in one thing…
When all else fails the weather unites us, even though it kinda politically divided us in December.
What are people looking at that isn’t owned by Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk?
Believe it or not, occasionally people still open a browser to the world wide web and go to an actual website to find out what’s happening in the world. The Anchorage Daily News is the leader in unique visitors every month of 2022. Alaska’s News Source, Alaska Public Media, the Juneau Empire, and Homer News round out the rest of the Top 5 for the year.
Very rarely do non-news or blogs sites make it into the Top 10, but Kelly Tshibaka, Mary Peltola, and Sarah Palin all had enough web traffic to appear occasionally in the fall.
About this data
The 907 Policy Project is tracking how Alaskans and Alaska organizations use social media to understand where Alaskans get their news on digital media about policy issues that impact their daily lives. And how those with the largest influence are using their platforms on a monthly basis. The 907 Policy Project is publishing the topline results in partnership with The Current.https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/907.initiative/viz/AlaskaWebTraffic-Top10/AlaskaWebTraffic2022
