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Data suggests Rob Ford’s online presence was fading prior to rehab

Toronto mayor Rob Ford speaks to supporters during his election campaign launch in Toronto on Thursday, April 17, 2014.
Toronto mayor Rob Ford speaks to supporters during his election campaign launch in Toronto on Thursday, April 17, 2014. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

TORONTO – While Toronto Mayor Rob Ford dominated the Twittersphere on Wednesday and Thursday, according to analytics website Topsy, prior to that his social media buzz was steadily declining over the past month.

Rob Ford’s online buzz has been steadily diminishing until the Wednesday’s late-night developments. Screenshot/Topsy

It’s not surprising that Ford was trending given his admission that he had “a problem with alcohol” and would be temporarily stepping aside from his mayoral duties.

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But, the data suggests that tweets with “Rob Ford” were at a month-long low on April 29.

On April 29, just over 1,000 people sent tweets with the text “Rob Ford”, according to social media analytics website Topsy. Screenshot/Topsy

On April 30th, Ford’s Twitter presence skyrocketed. In just one day, there was an 8,500 per cent increase in discussion about “Rob Ford.”

“Rob Ford”‘s Twitter presence jumped roughly 8500 per cent from April 29, 2014 to April 30, 2014 according to social media analytics website Topsy. Screenshot/Topsy

Taking a longer view, 44 per cent of total 30-day traffic related to Rob Ford happened in a single day.

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44 per cent of total 30-day traffic related to Rob Ford happened in a single day, according to social media analytics website Topsy. Screenshot/Topsy

In the grand scheme of things, this may not amount to much.

But it may demonstrate that, despite Ford’s continued antics since his November admission of smoking crack cocaine, his celebrity hold of the news cycle may have been diminishing, at least on Twitter.

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