Even as concerns continue to be raised about the lack of media coverage of Occupy Wall Street, one thing is becoming clear: Twitter is handily picking up that slack.
Information from data analysis company “Attention” shows that despite reports that activists themselves are moving away from the service, Twitter dominates the OWS social media conversation, with 82.5% of all social media discussion about the protest happening on the microblogging site. Facebook, in comparison, only contributes 2.8%; blogs took up 12.6%, with the remaining amount being split between Flickr, YouTube, news comments and message boards.
The “tipping point” for Twitter coverage was found to be the Brooklyn Bridge arrests on October 1st, which caused a staggering 216% increase in the number of tweets about the protest in the following week. Although the number of tweets has decreased since that peak, more Twitter users are continuing to discuss the protests now than before the arrests.
Maybe most interestingly, Attention’s analysis reveals that #OccupyWallStreet doesn’t follow the trend for popular Twitter subjects; it peaks on the weekends, and declines during weekdays, suggesting that it’s something more than just a way to kill time during the work day.
“Rather than tweet at the convenience of their desks,” explains Attention’s Emily Chambliss, “they used their weekend time to spread awareness of a cause they truly believe in.”
MORE: Move Over, Twitter: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Activists Feel the ‘Vibe’
Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.