GOP tracking #OccupyWallStreet on social media

Republican congressional campaign committee reportedly watching for ways to discredit the movement

Published October 13, 2011 5:39PM (EDT)

Laurentiu Garofeanu, left, and a second protestor participating in the "Occupy Wall Street"  protests, are arrested by the New York City police officers outside Zuccotti Park in New York, on Monday, Oct. 10, 2011.      (AP/Andrew Burton)
Laurentiu Garofeanu, left, and a second protestor participating in the "Occupy Wall Street" protests, are arrested by the New York City police officers outside Zuccotti Park in New York, on Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. (AP/Andrew Burton)

Here's the latest sign that the Occupy Wall Street movement has caught the attention of political elites in Washington: The Republican Party is closely tracking social media surrounding Occupy Wall Street, a GOP strategist tells the Christian Science Monitor:

Many politicians and corporations have staff devoted to scanning the social media landscape, says Atlanta-based Republican strategist David Johnson.

“I know for a fact that the Republican Congressional Committee is monitoring social media around the Occupy Wall Street movement, looking for ways to show potential voters that the movement is full of the most extreme views,” he says ...

It's not clear to me how highlighting a few tweets is going to help GOP strategists prove anything about the movement. But the #ows hashtag on Twitter is certainly a useful source of information.


By Justin Elliott

Justin Elliott is a reporter for ProPublica. You can follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin

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