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Shark Week 2014: Not Moar Shark?
Press release proclamations to the contrary, Shark Week experienced a massive drop in online attention this year.
Online mention volume for Upwell's 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 'Shark Week All' keyword groups.
Total volume fell more than 47% from last year's record-setting levels. As seen below, post volume peaked on Sunday, Shark Week's opening night, and fell off thereafter.
The graph above shows total social mention volume for Upwell's 'Shark Week 2013 All' and 'Shark Week 2014 All' keyword groups in Radian6. Data points were aligned by day-of-week.
While there are many theories for the decline in Discovery Channel's online fortunes - ranging from Megalodon-sized deceptions to Sharknado bandwagon fatigue - what's undeniably clear is that a big shift has occurred.
Could there be an answer in the (word) clouds? We leave it to you to decide.
Word clouds for the six biggest days of Shark Week 2014 (generated using Upwell's 'Shark Week 2014 All' keyword group in Radian6).
That's all for now, Team Ocean, but stay tuned for more shark-y analysis in the days and weeks ahead.
In the meantime, we invite you to send us your theories at tips [at] upwell [dot] us