There is hard data that shows "Bernie Bros" are a myth

[Uncle Joe]

A computational social scientist's study shows Bernie's Twitter followers act pretty much the same as everyone else

Mainstream pundits and politicians continue to obsess over the stereotype of the "Bernie Bro," a perfervid horde of Bernie Sanders supporters who supposedly stop at nothing to harass his opponents online. Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton and New York Times columnist Bret Stephens have all helped perpetuate the idea that Sanders' supporters are somehow uniquely cruel, despite Sanders' platform and policy proposal being the most humane of all the candidates.

The only problem? The evidence that Sanders supporters are uniquely cruel online, compared to any other candidates' supporters, is scant; much of the discourse around Bernie Bros seems to rely on skewed anecdotes that don't stand up to scrutiny. Many Sanders supporters suspect that the stereotype is perpetuated in bad faith to help torpedo his candidacy.

A few weeks ago I penned a story for Salon attempting to qualitatively disprove the Bernie Bro myth by pulling from psychological theory and the nature of online behavior. To summarize my conclusions: First, there is a general tendency for online behavior to be negative, known as the online disinhibition effect — but it affects all people equally, not merely Sanders' supporters. Second, pundits systematically ignore when other candidates' supporters are mean online, perhaps because of the aforementioned established stereotype; in this sense, the Bernie Bro is not dissimilar from other political canards like the "welfare queen." Third, Twitter is not a representative sample size of the population, and is so prone to harboring propaganda outfits and bots such that it is not a reliable way of gauging public opinion.

Now, to add to this qualitative assessment, there is quantitative evidence, too — reaped from studying hundreds of thousands of interactions online — that reveals the Bernie Bro myth as, well, a myth. Jeff Winchell, a computational social scientist and graduate student at Harvard University, crunched the numbers on tweet data and found that Sanders' supporters online behave the same as everyone else. Winchell used what is called a sentiment analysis, a technique used both in the digital humanities and in e-commerce, to gauge emotional intent from social media data.

"Bernie followers act pretty much the same on Twitter as any other follower," Winchell says of his results. "There is one key difference that Twitter users and media don't seem to be aware of.... Bernie has a lot more Twitter followers than Twitter followers of other Democrat's campaigns," he added, noting that this may be partly what helps perpetuate the myth.

(snip)

https://www.salon.com/2020/03/09/there-is-hard-data-that-shows-bernie-bros-are-a-myth/

I can assure anyone here that there is one thing that is not a myth, that being the corporate media conglomerates; their obvious financial conflicts of interest and their powerful adverse affects on public perception.

The U.S. has six and by some measures only five of them that own 90+% of everything the American People see on T.V. hear on the radio or read in publications.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_of_media_ownership

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/democracyondeadline/mediaownership.html

https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own-almost-all-media-infographic/

[Faux pas]

1. Kickin'

[NurseJackie]

2. Yawn.

[LaurenOlimina]

30. Biden Bro much?

[NurseJackie]

35. I've never attacked you. Why are you attacking me?

I've never smeared you with name-calling and insults. What makes you think you have the right to do that to me?

[LaurenOlimina]

37. Your post was the same kind of snark from the sidelines Bernie Bros use.

Or am I wrong?

[NurseJackie]

41. Oh, you're very wrong. But, because you disagree with me, you feel entitled to insult me?

Charming. All I can say is that I've never attacked you like that. I've only disagreed with and ridiculed candidates, political messages, pundits, spokespeople, editorialists and their crap... but I've NEVER attacked you. Not once.

I do not deserve to be called names by you.

[ehrnst]

47. You are wrong.

[NYMinute]

48. Even if what you say is true

Snark is elegant and harmless. Bullying, threatening, doxxing, stalking, swarming and other tactics that berniebros use and not okay.

[Buzz cook]

52. Snark is the equivelent of a pun

It is a low form of cynicism that serves only to belittle its object. If you don't know that perhaps you shouldn't be using it.

Really its the same rule as foreign phrases.

[NYMinute]

73. So all comedians are belittling their subjects?

[Buzz cook]

85. Some are

Its called punching down.

But tell me, do all comedians use snark?

[R B Garr]

75. I think that poster was saying that the bro's

actions are way beyond snark.

[R B Garr]

71. It's quite ironic that you are concerned about snark.

[NurseJackie]

91. I guess it'll be AUTUMN or later before you decide to reply, eh?

[stonecutter357]

77. Biden Bro much?

[sheshe2]

80. I sincerely wish you did not post my Senator...

I sincerely wish you do not post my Senator along side Sanders as your preferred choice. For one she left the race and I am heartbroken.

Fact is he called her a liar.

Now he wants/needs her endorsement.

Frankly? I don't believe she will give it. I saw her interview. The bullying and snake/rat emojis. She spoke all about it in a interview.

She is my Senator. Voted for her, met love and respect her.

[NYMinute]

3. The author, Keith Spencer, is himself a bro

So ... it is no more myth than la cosa nostra being a myth as told by Carlo Gambino.

Link to tweet

Keith A. Spencer
@keithspencer
The most depressing/hopeful thing about the Super Tuesday results is that the other candidates legitimately had to coordinate carefully to make sure it would look like a lose for Bernie.

[TwilightZone]

9. Nothing like invalidating an entire argument with one tweet.

On a side note, I'm guessing he meant "loss" and not "lose".

[mcar]

11. Oops

[Cha]

38. lol Busted.

[lapucelle]

64. "It's a conspiracy, I tells ya!" From the same author...

Twitter sleuths uncover an anti-Sanders conspiracy — and the pundit class is furious
A stray tweet from an MSNBC journo epitomized how elite pundits informally coordinate their anti-Sanders rhetoric

https://www.salon.com/2019/08/26/twitter-sleuths-uncover-an-anti-bernie-conspiracy-infuriating-the-pundit-class/

[Buzz cook]

54. And how is that tweet

hateful, angry, or in anyway indicative of the supposed phenomena?

[NYMinute]

72. He tweets under his own name so he keeps it controlled

But .... his bias is evident

[Buzz cook]

86. Is bias supporting your own candidate then?

Because that's all I see in the tweet.

[BootinUp]

60. lol nt.

[Gothmog]

93. The Hoarse Whisperer has some good comments on this bernie bro

Link to tweet

[SidDithers]

4. From Salon. The outlet that published HA Goodman all through 2015 and 2016...nt

Sid

[NYMinute]

8. HAHAHAHA Goodman decided to take a sabbatical this time around it seems

[ismnotwasm]

10. He's a Republican now I think

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. Drink! Nt

[TwilightZone]

49. Not much has changed.

So, the argument still stands. This particular author thinks that the other candidates coordinated their campaigns solely to make Sanders look like a loser on Super Tuesday.

[Fiendish Thingy]

65. And they would've gotten away with it, if it wasn't for that rotten H.A. Goodman!

Amirite?

[TwilightZone]

66. Was that supposed to be witty?

[TwilightZone]

5. "Everyone's an asshole" isn't much of a defense.

Especially after the campaign just hired a senior advisor who has to almost immediately apologize for a history of highly questionable tweets.

That's a detail that analyzing twitter users isn't going to disclose. The Sanders' campaign's problem starts with the senior staff. They are clearly more antagonistic than the staff of any other candidate.

[Thekaspervote]

24. When a once top tier candidate EW, gives an hr interview and talks 1st hand of all the hate

Coming from sanders surrogates....I rest my case!

[TwilightZone]

26. Agreed.

Especially when she and Sanders have been considered allies for years. For her to make that public, there is zero doubt in my mind that it was a huge problem and she took it very seriously.

[Renew Deal]

6. So is the idea that he has wide appeal and can unify the party.

[nolabear]

7. Do you go on Twitter?

I do. It’s a nightmare, and it does not cut both ways, to degree or amount. I have experienced it, I have watched it. Trends are driven by hashtag campaigns that spew venom and disseminate lies. Biden supporters do it to an extent, but frankly as the article says they’re just not as organized nor as predominant.

And that’s not a good thing.

[Sloumeau]

12. So, David Sirota and Cenk don't exist? :) nt

[TwilightZone]

15. Only as two points on a very long line.

The author is trying to bury the obvious in numbers. Look at all the twitter followers Bernie has!

The author ignores the fact that a lot of the problem is at the top of the pyramid and won't show up in numbers. Sanders' senior staff and most-prominent surrogates are the ones perpetuating the stereotypes.

[sheshe2]

18. Nor Bri Bri and the new hire that called Michelle ugly.

[Happyhippychick]

13. I would have believed its a myth but I know several Bernie bros

And they are as obnoxious and rude as their reputation. Truthfully I don't really have any opinion of Bernie except a bad one because of his supporters, the ones I know in real life.

Its not a conspiracy.

[yardwork]

61. I know one in RL, too. He lives up to the stereotype and then some.

[Gothmog]

16. Bernie Bros exist and I had to deal with them at the National Convention

Normally going to a national convention is a once in a life time experience. I have worked really hard inside the party on campaigns and voter protection issues for a very long time to earn this trip. Too bad that sanders and his vetted delegates ruined that experience and did their best to help trump. A candidate has absolute approval rights over their pledged delegates because these delegates can change their votes and these delegates represent the candidate and campaign. I helped vet Clinton delegates and I know that I was vetted. The Clinton campaign told us that we represent her and that our actions would reflect on her and her campaign.

In contrast, sanders sent one very weak text the Sunday night before the convention and then did little or nothing to control his delegates. It was nasty I was there when the sanders delegates booed Congressman John Lewis. I was warned about this stunt 30 minutes before it happened by the Clinton campaign whip. According to my whip, sanders was asked to stop this event and declined. That incident will be used against sanders by Russia to suppress the African American vote just as was done in 2016

Link to tweet

Russia will just run material showing sanders delegates booing John Lewis, Elijah Cummings and others to suppress the vote of African American voters and I feel that this tactic would be very effective

I was at the Texas delegation breakfast when a group of sanders delegates marched in and demanded that we condemn Clinton and change our votes to sanders.

sanders spoke to the Texas delegation the next morning and his speech was again solely about himself. There was a mini-riot due to his delegates the prior morning and the only thing that sanders talked about was himself. sanders did nothing to deal with the fact that his delegates were out of control and did nothing to try to help Hillary Clinton win the general election.

Finally a group of sanders delegates yelled at my daughter and called her the c-Word because she would not try to get me to change my vote. Again sanders was asked to tell his delegates to behave during the convention and sanders refused.

The conduct that I experience mirrors the conduct that Senator Warren experienced.

Link to tweet

Bernie bros exist. I have seen these bros up close

[R B Garr]

70. ++++++thanks for this, Goth. I don't know why we have

to pretend these things never happened.

[Gothmog]

81. Denial is not just a river in Africa

[dalton99a]

74. +1. So have I

[Gothmog]

82. Bernie Bros exist in the real world

I saw far to much of Bernie Bros in the real world at the national convention. In the real world, real campaigns get their delegates to a national convention because these delegates are official representatives of their candidate.

[msongs]

17. bernie's lifetime of attacking democrats and the democratic party is well documented history nt

[showblue22]

19. Bernie's staff retweets them

Bernie's staff are retweeting twitter accounts with offensive handles. Like this one.

"Why don't Democrats care that Biden has dementia?"

Link to tweet

[BeyondGeography]

20. I call it Bernie World, and it encompasses all the online trash talkers

such as Krystal and Saagar, Moore, Kulinski, Cenk and every other online TV chatterhead who treats Bernie's every pronouncement as gospel and people who are in the same ideological neck of the woods as threats, pretenders and traitors. Or snakes. Yeah, that's it, snakes.

Fuck them.

[Progressive2020]

21. Interesting Post

I have seen nastiness on all different sides of this campaign season. People fight dirty in politics. It has been going on for years. And yes, it is worse online due to the online disinhibition effect. Some people online feel free to be insulting bastards because they are anonymous. Not everyone is nasty, but the Internet tends to bring out the nastiness in many people.

[Dustlawyer]

40. One only needs to go to DU to see this play out.

I have been on jury duty quite a bit lately, it is coming from from supporters of all of the candidates.

I hope people will reign in their dark sides more and decide not to post negative comments. Who ever wins the nomination will have to unite us to defeat Trump! Let’s not make their job harder.

[TwilightZone]

42. DU isn't representative of the real world.

In the real world, the difference is pretty stark, particularly at the top of the campaigns. The problem starts with Sanders' staff, not a bunch of random twitter users, which the author conveniently ignores.

Elizabeth Warren, an ally of Sanders for years, was quite clear in calling out Sanders supporters for their behavior. She clearly thinks it's a problem or she wouldn't have been so adamant about it.

As someone noted below, if it's between some guy at Salon with a clear agenda (he is unabashedly a Sanders supporter) and Elizabeth Warren, the choice is clear.

[gollygee]

22. Whose "hard data" is this?

I personally know bernie supporters who are being bernie bros. It's very negative - so negative it's totally turned me off to him and his campaign. We need a movement based on positivity. We are all tired of negativity. There's a reason he's losing and it isn't media coordination or any other conspiracy. People don't like him or his supporters or his movement.

[mopinko]

23. then maybe dont center your campaign on twitter/social media.

people keep asking what bernie should do. here's a thought-
can twitter.
get your paid staff off twitter.
tell your followers to stay off twitter.
fucking do something.
step up to the moment, if ya still can.

[lambchopp59]

25. I've been pointing this out here for some time

Sometimes the process of candidate selection can get ugly, when I've mentioned that some blows from the more popular camp toward Bernie supporters in general here on DU land a bit below the belt, most often replies to this consist of:

At the ratio of about 5 to 1 post from a "Bernie Bro" that could be considered a bit off color.
Both my favorites, Kamala and Liz are gone, I'm only solidly in the "OMG any Dem will do" camp these days, a bit frustrated that anyone truly believes there's any "reaching across the isle" to the party of obstruction so severe it will require surgical intervention to remove the dried up old stool stopping up the whole country's progressive works. Frustrated the Overton Window has slid so far right that "anti-socialist" rants invade "liberal" discussion boards like this.
Sigh, we'll probably have to settle for a "corporatist lite" and progress largely at stagnation regardless.

[TexasTowelie]

27. .

[Happy Hoosier]

28. Denying the problem is part of the problem. NT

[nolawarlock]

29. With all the bigotry I've witnessed from the Bros ...

… this is the biggest joke I've seen. I've so far supported Kamala, then Pete, and no Joe, and not once do I recall fellow supporters of these candidates acting the way that the Berners continue to. If I see one more person on Facebook or Twitter accusing every other candidate's supporters of wanting everyone to die because Bernie = M4A, I will scream.

[grantcart]

31. A Bro saying it ain't so about Bernie Bros

And yet when Klobuchar came to a Dem gathering in NH and was booed by 30 guys she said "welcome to the Sanders supporters and everyone else cheered.

Only Bernie supporters openly boo Democratic candidates at public events and Bernie is the only candidate that doesn't address it when it's right in front of him.

In 24 hours the Sanders campaign will finish their historic collapse and then we will be treated to 7 months of "it was really really really really really unfair" that Sanders started with 4 years of advanced planning and tens of millions of more dollars than any one else.

[tritsofme]

32. Who actually cares at this point? The race is over, Bernie should snap out of denial and drop out.

[brooklynite]

33. I can listen to an online blogger or Senator Warren...

Choices, choices.....

Warren calls out Sanders for ‘organized nastiness’ and ‘bullying’ by his supporters

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called out Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for not taking steps to control the “organized nastiness” of some of his supporters during the presidential campaign.

“It’s not just about me,” Warren said in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Thursday following her decision to suspend her campaign for the Democratic nomination. “I think that’s a real problem with this online bullying and sort of organized nastiness. … I’m talking about some really ugly stuff that went on.”

While politics has become riddled with such behavior, she said it was a particular problem with Sanders’s supporters. “It is. It just is,” she told Maddow.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/06/warren-sanders-maddow-bullying/

[BeckyDem]

34. Bernie is doing a great job in his townhall right now!

[Uncle Joe]

36. I missed the beginning but caught a little over half of it

but everything I saw Bernie did great!

[frazzled]

39. Those people booing and disrupting at the 2016 convention?

Those weren’t Twitter bots or intruders. Those were Bernie delegates. That’s pretty hard data.
Watch them on video and remember:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2016/jul/25/democratic-convention-marcia-fudge-booed-bernie-sanders-video

[Gothmog]

43. I was there in person

Bernie bros exist and were booing John Lewis, Elijah Cummings and Stacy Abrams

[frazzled]

45. Kind of selectively targeted

at our black leaders, huh? I remember watching it on TV. It was utterly distressing.

This can’t be allowed to happen again. And it can be accomplished. Sanders has to be told that he must instruct his delegates to behave. If they don’t, he looses his committee positions and any other privileges he might have in the Senate.

[Gothmog]

46. The Clinton campaign was expecting some floor votes and had a whipping infrastructure in place

My whip was great and let us know 20 to 30 minutes in advance of these stunts. I was shocked to see the text about John Lewis being booed.

[MineralMan]

44. LOL!

and BWAHAHA!

[rufus dog]

50. Very similar to the Magots

The other side does it too and we aren't that bad.

In reality they are acting like fucking assholes.

[nolabear]

51. Yeah, I'm watching that "myth" disrupt Joe's rally again and again and again tonight.

I counted five disruptions. The crowd was "thrilled." Joe implored them not to become a Trump rally, to let them get out without harm.

They're disgusting, and Bernie should disavow and disown them. LOUDLY.

[mcar]

57. This!

Those disruptors suck. And, accomplish nothing.

[Hav]

63. You seriously believe your lying eyes?

Well, I have to admit, I just saw the myth throwing a tantrum as well.

[SidDithers]

53. Bernie bros. I don't think they exist...

Sid

[Uncle Joe]

58. Biden Bros that would be inconceivable

?fit=501%2C480&ssl=1

[SidDithers]

62. Biden Bros...

But keep trying.

Sid

[Peregrine Took]

55. I was at the huge 15,000 rally in Chicago this weekend...

... couldn't have been nicer.

At one point I got a little overwhelmed with the crowd (I'm a senior and 'had to remove myself from the throng - everyone parted the way for me. So polite - as all Bernie get togethers I've ever attended - in 2016 and the present campaign.

I can't imagine who these supposed nasty followers are - I guess they must be some online trolls if they even exist and aren't people from other campaigns or foreign bots.

[Uncle Joe]

59. Thanks for sharing Peregrine Took.

[TwilightZone]

79. Nope.

They're quite real and they're a problem for his campaign.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/9/21168312/bernie-bros-bernie-sanders-chapo-trap-house-dirtbag-left

[William769]

56. and there are sightings proving they are. nt

[TwilightZone]

67. "The "Bernie Bro" is a stereotype -- but the "dirtbag left" is real"

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/9/21168312/bernie-bros-bernie-sanders-chapo-trap-house-dirtbag-left

[Gothmog]

68. Another non-existent Bernie bro being thrown out of a Biden event

Link to tweet

[TDale313]

69. It's a problem for Bernie.

I supported him in the primaries last time- still follow him and a lot of people who are supporters on Social Media. My personal impression is there is a difference in the level of vitriol... but even if that’s overblown and just a perception problem... it feels real enough to enough people that it should have been addressed in a tangible way if the Sanders campaign was ever going to break through what appears to be their ceiling. It’s telling that a lot of us Warren supporters, who ideologically are closer to Bernie, are not exactly rushing to join his camp. The snake emojis didn’t help.

[samnsara]

76. ive seen them with mine own eyes

[carlvsam]

83. I came across three of this past Friday while on a CTA bus

They started with the typical "how bad Joe Biden is," and the differences between him and Sanders. But then it quickly devolved into the "Biden has dementia" BS, and how bad his mental capacity had gotten (they were commenting that Joe had at one time allowed children to "inspect" his leg hair - yeah right...:grr

However, it was a comment made by one of the three before the Biden bashing that really caught my ear. Apparently, this person had a local band, and since his "spring break" had been canceled (for obvious reasons,) he decided to spend the time going from "L" station to "L" station, and "plaster" each station with stickers promoting his group. There only a few problems with this plan:

1. It's illegal (I think there is a word for this - vandal-something...)
2. Those stickers are very hard to remove.
3. This person is showing NO consideration for the CTA personnel who will have clean-up his mess.

As I was getting off the bus, I made this comment to a senior citizen who was coming off the same time:

THESE are the kind of people that believe everyone should trust their judgement?!?!?

[stonecutter357]

78. good let's go Joe !

[Steven Maurer]

84. I'm a software architect and data scientist, and this is EXACTLY what happened

Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2020, 02:50 AM - Edit history (1)

This "researcher" is running a random word recognition algorithm that doesn't understand what it's reading or the context (tweets specifically are highly context sensitive - and he says he's evaluating each one). When he does, it assigns what is essentially a random number, and he's using that to judge whether the test is "positive" or "negative".

The fact that he's so proud of his python parser and doesn't even go into any detail about his model, shows right away that he's way out of his league. Almost certainly trying to find the result he wants.

[carlvsam]

88. I think the proper term is "data mining ..." (nt)

[FreeState]

87. Nope - denial of reality n/t

[LizBeth]

90. I have met them for five years. I know better.

[Gothmog]

92. Bernie Bros and Bitter Beckies exist and are not nice people

Link to tweet

[George II]

94. "Hard data"? Hard data proving something doesn't exist? Seems odd.

[Doremus]

95. K&R

[Gothmog]

96. MSNBC Says Chris Jansing 'Felt Threatened' By Bernie Supporter

Other campaigns (with the exception of trump) do not threaten reporters

Link to tweet