As much of the media and Twitter-verse remains focused on the horrific allegations coming out of Happy Valley, we in the @NMSosphere wanted to take a deeper dive into that discussion and see exactly how Penn State fans and alums feel about the Sandusky scandal. Specifically, we were interested in understanding quantitatively and qualitatively if fans and alums felt that legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno should stay or go. So, we looked at more than 20,000 conversations in social media during the past few days in Penn State-oriented communities. The message was overwhelming: Nearly two-thirds of Penn State fans say that "Joe Must Go."
PSU fans are known for chanting "We Are Penn State" in unison. Again, they seem to be speaking in that same unified and clear voice that it's time to turn the page.
More on our PSU Fan/Alum study below:
64% of Nittany Lion Nation Agree: Joe Should Go
Fans and Alumni Sound off on Social Media
In the wake of the Penn State scandal, New Media Strategies conducted the first analysis of Penn State fans online and found an estimated 64% of conversations support the retirement of Joe Paterno.
To reach this result, social media discussion was analyzed in Penn State-oriented communities, sites, Facebook pages and Twitter, as well as in message boards and in the blogosphere. Approximately 20,000 discussions about the situation took place during the time period of data collection from November 5 – 9, 2011. While approximately 64% support retirement, 26% think he should stay and 10% were undecided or didn’t have an opinion.
“This analysis made clear that, in the eyes of most Penn State fans, Paterno made the right decision to resign at the end of the season,” said New Media Strategies Founder & CEO Pete Snyder. “While JoePa remains a legend to many in Happy Valley and well beyond, the social media discussions clearly show the allegations and arrests to be too much for most fans.”