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Invasive species: an NGO discovers a unexpected connection to xenophobia and race
An Environmental NGO asked us to share what the Twitterverse was saying about invasive species. This map reveals all Tweets about invasive species appearing the same week the killer hornets arrived in North America. The hornet story's appearance next to "bee angst" was not a surprise, since the hornets are known to attack bee colonies. However, the size of a racist/xenophobic cluster came as a surprise. Hover over the dots on the lower right cluster: Notice the dog whistles and less-obvious expressions that - with the exception of Phrasia - current text analysis and sentiment tools can not detect.
A time series analysis suggests that the rise of the anti - Asian hate narrative was related to the arrival of the hornets, as these narratives rose in tandem. For an NGO which relied on appeal across the political spectrum, a key watchout emerged: In engaging the discussion on invasive species, it is critical to avoid fueling those spreading anti-Asian hate and xenophobia.
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