Engagement in the Elite Networks Over Time
People tended to enter and exit the elite transmitter and transceiver networks over time. The vast majority of people in these elite networks became highly engaged with the Common Core debate on Twitter during one particular six-month period, but then migrated away from the issue as time went by. Similarly, people entered into the conversation in the middle of the two years that we examined and then floated out again. A few hardy few individuals were, however, persistently active over the four time periods that we followed. In this section we examine the extent to which people persisted in the transmitter, transceiver and transcender networks.
As shown in the figure below, only 10 individuals or groups were in the elite transmitter network for all four time periods. An additional 44 individuals/groups were transmitters in three of the four time periods; while 80 people were transmitters in two of the four time periods. The overwhelming majority, 73%, were transmitters in just a single time period. At the end of this section, we provide a list of the 10 transmitters who were present in all four time periods, as well as their position and the faction to which they belonged. Interestingly, the 10 represented education professionals, groups inside of education, individuals from outside of education, and school & district practitioners. They also represented all three factions that we examined (blue/green/yellow).
Similar to the transmitter network, the overwhelming majority of the transceivers (312 or 69%) were in this elite network in just one of the four time periods that we tracked. An additional 73 (16% of the transceivers) were present in two of the four time periods; while 46 individuals/groups were in three of the four time periods. There was no pattern about which of the time periods these people were in, although they tended to be sequential. Only 5% of the transceivers, 24 individuals or groups, were in all four time periods. At the end of this section, we provide a list of the 24 transmitters who were present in all four time periods, as well as their position and the faction to which they belonged. These transceivers represented all the position types, except institutions/groups outside of education, and came from all three factions (blue/green/yellow).
People present in the Transmitter Network in All Four Time Periods
| Twitter Name | Position Type | Faction |
|---|---|---|
| @leoniehaimson* | education professional | blue |
| @michaelpetrilli* | education professional | green |
| @assesswell | group inside education | blue |
| @educationfreedo | group inside education | yellow |
| @chelearle | individual outside education | yellow |
| @ladyliberty1885* | individual outside education | yellow |
| @manateespirit | individual outside education | yellow |
| @cheryl_smith1 | school & district practitioners | blue |
| @getupstandup2* | school & district practitioners | blue |
| @posroff | school & district practitioners | blue |
*Also present in the transceiver network in all four time periods
People present in the Transceiver Network in All Four Time Periods
| Twitter Name | Position Type | Faction |
|---|---|---|
| @anthonycody | education professional | blue |
| @DianeRavitch | education professional | Blue |
| @leoniehaimson* | education professional | Blue |
| @michaelpetrilli* | education professional | green |
| @nealmccluskey | education professional | blue |
| @rweingarten | education professional | blue |
| @achievethecore | group inside education | Green |
| @badassteachersa | group inside education | Blue |
| @nysut | group inside education | blue |
| @TruthinAmEd | group inside education | yellow |
| @FreedomWorks | group outside education | yellow |
| @RedNationRising | group outside education | yellow |
| @drscott_atlanta | individual outside education | yellow |
| @gerfingerpoken | individual outside education | yellow |
| @ladyliberty1885* | individual outside education | yellow |
| @michellemalkin | individual outside education | yellow |
| @NYGovCuomo | individual outside education | |
| @PJStrikeForce | individual outside education | yellow |
| @BreitbartNews | Journalist/Media | yellow |
| @educationweek | Journalist/Media | |
| @mericanrefugee | Journalist/Media | yellow |
| @ClassTechTips | school & district practitioners | green |
| @getupstandup2* | school & district practitioners | blue |
| @tfarley1969 | school & district practitioners | blue |
*Also present in the transmitter network in all four time periods