The Social Media Reaction To Roe v. Wade Getting Overturned

While getting consensus on anything involving abortion might seem impossible, people on both sides of the issue probably can agree the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will likely end up being the most impactful Supreme Court ruling in decades. So what do brands need to know about the social media reaction to this court decision?  

Here’s how the social media audience is responding to Roe v. Wade being overturned, both in general and around brand messaging specifically. 

The Official Ruling Was Far More Impactful Than The Leak 

It was widely assumed Roe V. Wade was about to be overturned, as a month earlier a draft of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling was leaked to the press. However, the leak didn’t mute the social media reaction to the decision becoming finalized. In fact, there were 7,235,816 Tweets mentioning either Abortion or Roe V. Wade on June 24, 2022, the day the case was overturned. That is 4.8X as many Tweets mentioning those terms as there were on May 2, 2022, the day Politico published a leaked draft of the decision.

Brands Coming Out On Social As Pro-Choice Aren’t Seeing Significant Negative Impact  

Dozens of major companies have pledged to cover their employees expenses if they need healthcare out of state, including abortion services.  However, brands have been hesitant to post about this on social media (and in some cases, publicly discuss those policies in general). 

For the brands discussing their new healthcare policies on social media, there didn’t appear to be any significant blowback. For example, DICK’S Sporting Goods got 170,259 engagements on Instagram (a 27.78% response rate) and 199,133 engagements on Twitter  (a 54.53% response rate) for a post announcing they would reimburse their employees up to $4,000 if they, their spouse, or dependant need to travel out of state to have an abortion. DICK’S had a net gain of 6,330 social media followers on the day. 

Similarly, GoPro shared an Instagram post saying “We support women.” and they’re enhancing family benefits for their employees to include abortion, adoption, and IVF treatment. That post got 28,965 engagements and had a 0.15% response rate, with GoPro adding 5,190 followers to their social media accounts on the day it was posted. Meanwhile, Live Nation Entertainment got 20,080 engagements and a 4.03% response rate for an Instagram post saying they stand with women, will pay for employees’ out of state healthcare expenses and are matching Lizzo’s donation to Planned Parenthood and Abortion Rights. Live Nation Entertainment gained 130 social media followers on the day. 

Also notewothy, Ben & Jerry shared 7 posts across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about fighting for abortion rights between June 24-25, 2020. Those posts got a total of 115,660 engagements and an average response rate of 0.53%. Most engaged of those posts was an Instagram gallery focusing on all the other existing rights Ben & Jerry felt the Supreme Court could potentially take away because they’re not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. The brand gained 3,003 new followers over the two days. 

The Reaction Was More Mixed For Video Game Brands Being Pro-Choice 

Electronic Arts (EA) committed to expanding the benefits to their U.S. employees around their healthcare in a post that got a combined 13,865 engagements on Instagram and Twitter.  However, EA had a net loss of -7 followers on the day, and many of those engagements were negative. For example, the post on Instagram got a comment saying “”EA caring about politics more than of they games [ sic ]” that got 289 Likes and a comment that said “we dont care drop skate 4 [ sic ]” that got 239 Likes. It’s worth noting EA’s post didn’t directly mention either Abortion or Roe V. Wade. 

Ubisoft did gain 3,088 social media followers on the day they posted on Facebook that “reproductive rights are human rights” with the post getting 943 engagements. However, the top performing comment on the post with 81 thumbs up and 12 hearts read “Brand out of touch again? Imagine thinking it would be popular to publicly support the killing of babies.“

Brands With A Primarily Female Audience Were Most Likely To Speak Out On Social 

By far the most brands posting about Roe v. Wade being overturned were brands with a primarily female audience, especially around Fashion, Beauty, and Home Furnishing brands. The most popular of these was a Lululemon Instagram post that got 137,281 engagements and a 3.30% response rate  saying “reproductive rights are human rights” while announcing they’d be making a $500,000 contribution to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Other brands focusing on saying women’s rights are human rights or reproductive rights are human rights include PacSun, Francesca’s, and Parachute Home.  

Gucci got 81,348 engagements and a 0.17% response rate for a “My body, my choice” post on Instagram that also talked about their CHIME FOR CHANGE campaign which since 2013 has been fighting for gender equality. A number of other brands shared “Your Body, Your Choice” or “My Body, My Choice” focused messages, such as Rituel de Fille, Chloé, Tatcha, Madewell, and The Body Shop. 

Another slogan repeatedly used in brand posts was “Don’t Ban Equality” including in posts shared by J.Crew,  Glossier, Paula’s Choice, Versed Skincare, and ModCloth. 

Athleta got 36,292 engagements and a response rate of 4.50% on an Instagram post saying employees on GAP Inc. healthcare can travel to other states to get healthcare. Dove, Benefit Cosmetics, and Hanna Andersson were other brands talking about giving their employees out of state health care options. 

A number of other brands talked about who they were donating money to, or who they wanted you to donate money to. Companies that said they were donating to pro-choice organazations or other organazations focusing on women’s rights included Peach & Lily, Prose Hair and Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare. 

Brands sharing resources of where to get involved or donate money to included Trixie Mattel Cosmetics, Glow Recipe, EM Cosmetics, Youth To The People, and Tower 28 Beauty. 

In some cases, brands got more in the weeds discussing what the Supreme Court actually wrote. For example, Pacifica Beauty, shared a quote from Sotomayor, Kagan, and Breyer’s dissent while Boy Smells analyzed Clarence Thomas’s additional opinion to see what other protections might be at risk.

In other cases, CEOs just used brand channels to share personal feelings of frustration. Tory Burch wrote a note to her employees on Instagram expressing her outrage at Roe v. Wade being overturned which got 13,201 engagements, while Jeffree Star Cosmetics got 6,013 engagements on a Tweet where Jeffree said he’s in utter shock. 

Pro-Life Brands Were Silent On Social Media 

ListenFirst looked extensively for examples of brands commenting on social media about Roe v. Wade being overturned with Pro-Life messaging, and almost without exception those posts just didn’t existed (excluding politicians and news brands). That includes brands that had publicly discussed their religious rights in the context of the First Amendment in the past. The one place where Pro-Life brands did speak up on social was around very specific films. 

Unplanned, a drama about a Planned Parenthood employee who becomes an anti-abortion activist had 584 engagmeents on a Tweet thanking the Supreme Court of their bravery and praying for their safety in a volatile political climate. Meanwhile, the movie Persecuted, a 2014 Christian drama got 25 engagements on a Facebook post saying  “Glory to God!!” and “The lord cares for the unborn!!” linking to a news story about Roe v. Wade getting overturned.  

Given that polling shows 60% of US adults disapprove of overturning Roe v. Wade, combined with the verdict having already gone their way, brands with pro-life leadership likely didn’t see much to gain by posting about the decision on social media. 

‘We Will Adopt Your Baby’ Goes Viral 

Between June 26 – June 28, there were 285,797 Tweets using the exact phrase “We will adopt your baby”. The trend started because a Twitter user took a picture of an anti-abortion couple outside the Supreme Court, holding up a sign with the message. It turns out the couple aren’t U.S. citizens and can’t legally adopt children in America, but regardless, the image went viral in a cyberbullying context. 

People shared the “We will adopt your baby” text with various pictures of sinister looking couples. A second strain of the meme, focused on a picture of a different couple holding up a sign saying “Please don’t abort, we will adopt your baby!”. That photo it turns out was actually from a 2019 Facebook post, and not directly related to the current Supreme Court decision. 

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Conclusion

For a subject touching on people’s religious beliefs, their sense of autonomy about their own bodies, and existential questions on when life begins, it’s unlikely brands would or should have their messaging shaped by what others are saying on social media. That said, given most people in America get their healthcare through their employer, it is an issue companies are thinking about which has potentially long-term consequences. 

Brands have to factor in the personal beliefs of their leadership, the divided preferences of their own employees, and how transparent they are about their policies with consumers. In weighing all those factors, it’s important to review social media analytics from a brand marketing point of view. Understand how your audience is responding to these hot-topic conversations, before you post about the issue. A principled stand is a principled stand, but brands should not fly blind when joining the conversation in the very public arena of social media. 

Measuring Success: 4 Strategies To Measure Social Media Impact

Consumer behaviors are evolving on social media. Especially since the start of the pandemic, as in person interaction has become less frequent. Many people are no longer “lurking” on social media, but are actually engaging.

How does this impact your method of measurement?

Surface-level metrics like followers and engagements are not as telling as they once were. To measure the effectiveness of your social media strategy today, you must take a more sophisticated approach.

Download our report to learn how to measure social media’s impact on consumer buzz, brand awareness, competitive rankings, and customer conversions.

The Social Media Shift To Video

For brands, knowing video is important for your social media strategy is not enough. Certain social media platforms are becoming more central to brand marketing as video becomes more popular, while other social platforms become less of a focus for brands.  

Additionally, as the audience embraces video, the social media metrics that marketers should be focusing on needs to change as well.

This report takes a look at several key industries on social media including Fashion, Publishing, Food & Beverage, Top Advertisers, and Home Furnishings, to determine the behavioral shift of media consumption by the public on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

In this report we outline exactly how video has changed audience behavior, why that’s impacting which social media metrics you need to focus on, and what brand priorities should be going forward.

Dashboards, Machine Learning and Modern Design

Over the last year the ListenFirst team has taken a deep look at user workflows and closely collaborated with customers to understand their biggest needs. As a result, we’ve invested in many enhancements that will help users save time and uncover more relevant insights in fewer steps.  

Starting in September 2021, ListenFirst users will have access to a new platform experience. Notable features now available in the new ListenFirst experience include the ability to:

  • quickly find the data you need
  • build configurable dashboards
  • uncover key takeaways automatically
  • create brand roll-ups on the fly
  • dive into the analytics and share meaningful visuals quickly

We breakdown our most exciting enhancements below.

Configurable Dashboards

Enjoy more flexibility by creating easy-to-update dashboards tailored to your KPIs.

When you first log in to your ListenFirst account, you’ll get a quick glimpse at the performance metrics most important to you. Configurable Dashboards make this all possible. Our new dashboard feature allows customers to create specific combinations of ListenFirst data to match their team’s unique use cases and workflows. 

It’s easy to add an analysis tile to your favorite dashboard, or to multiple dashboards. It’s your choice. From there you have easy-to-understand, beautiful reports to share with other ListenFirst users.

You’re in Control with Instant Insights

Quickly understand how your brand performs on social media using simple visuals and easy-to-understand language.

Tired of burning precious hours attempting the work of a trained data analyst? Instant Insights, is a new analytics feature that quickly shows how brands perform across social media. It’s all in a single view! 

Leveraging years of intelligence gathered from working with the largest brands in the world, Instant Insights utilizes machine learning to deliver analysis like no other. Users can benchmark performance and uncover valuable takeaways in natural language. Even configure multiple brands and content filters on the fly. 

A Modern and User-Friendly Design

Introducing a complete re-imagining and redesign of navigation, data visualization, and analysis in the platform.   

We worked hand-in-hand with ListenFirst customers to ensure the new interface would provide easy access to the data needed most. This resulted in a more streamlined workflow paired with modern design. Save time with more intuitive navigation, clean data visuals and more ways to share key metrics and insightful takeaways with others.

Experience the Enhancements for Yourself

Throughout the month of September, users will be given the opportunity to switch between the new and legacy UI. So, the next time you log into your ListenFirst account, look for the toggle button at the top right.

Don’t be shy. Dive into the upgraded experience for more flexibility, faster insights and access to powerful dashboards. New feature walk-thrus will be available as you explore the platform, but for a deeper understanding of the new workflows, check out the knowledge base dedicated to the Platform Redesign found in the Help Center. 

Which Films Are Driving Social Conversations?

7 Social Media Insights Around The Oscar Nominations

ListenFirst just launched our new YouTube channel, and in our inaugural video, we used our social media analytics to determine the audience response to the recent Academy Award nominations. Without further ado, here are the Top 7 social media insights you should know about the Oscar nominations.

Insight #1. Expect Interest To Be Way Down Around The Oscars This Year

There were 269,820 Tweets mentioning the Oscar Nominations on March 15, 2021 which was a -45% decrease from the 493,448 Tweets that mentioned the Oscars nominations on January 13, 2020. While it’s not shocking considering how many movie releases have been delayed in the past year, and how many theaters have been closed, there’s a significantly lower level of interest in the awards show in 2021.

Insight #2. With Theaters Closed, People Don’t Care About Nomination Snubs As Much

In a year when most movie theaters were closed, there was much less discussion over what films or performances were overlooked around the Oscar Nominations. There were 1,008 Tweets mentioning Oscar Snubs on March 15, 2021 compared to 3,904 Tweets mentioning Oscar Snubs on January 13, 2020, when the Oscar nominations were announced last year.

That’s not just about people watching less movies however. With so many serious Oscar contenders debuting on streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu in past year, likely more people have already seen these films than would have if they had more traditional theatrical runs. That said, a performance is probably not going to hit the same way, if you watch the film over a couple of sittings while distracted by your phone, as opposed to at once with an auditorium of other people.

Insight #3: Minari Was The Biggest Winner On Social

Minari was the Oscar nominated film that had the biggest lift in social engagement because of the nominations. It had a social engagement score of 65,272, which was an increase of +1,066% comparing March 15 to March 14, 2021. 

Insight #4: The Best Actor Race Drove The Most Responses On Twitter

Most of the top performing Tweets mentioning the Oscar Nominations on March 15, 2021 brought up the history being made in the Best Actor category.  For instance, a Tweet talking about how Steven Yeun becomes the first Asian-American actor to be nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars got 11,268 responses while another Tweet congratulating Riz Ahmed on making history as the first Muslim to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar got 10,396 responses.

Insight #5: The Women Got The Audience’s Attention Around the Best Director Race


On March 15, 2021 there were 5,118 Tweets mentioned  that for the first time, two women were nominated for Best Director in the same year: Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell. 

Insight #6. Mank Ruled The Day In Terms Of Wikipedia Performance

David Fincher’s Mank may have gotten the most Oscar nominations this year, but its great performance was expected and without the element of surprise it wasn’t as talked about on social media as you might expect. However, Mank did get 167,179 page views of their Wikipedia page on March 15, 2021 which was the highest total for any nominated film on the day.

Insight #7. Don’t Expect A Huge Immediate Lift In Social Media Followers From A Nomination

Minari got 2,614 new fans or followers on their social media accounts the day the Oscars nominations were announced, and that was the highest such total for any nominated film. If a movie isn’t already on someone’s radar, getting Oscar nominations alone is unlikely to be enough to lead to a follow.

Want more insight into how ListenFirst helps brands track the social media audience, film related or otherwise? Request a ListenFirst demo today!