Even with quarterback Tom Brady serving a four-game suspension for his involvement in Deflategate and four-time Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski currently nursing a hamstring injury, New England Patriots fans have still dominated the social conversation on Twitter.
Two weeks ago, the NFL collaborated with the social media platform and launched specific Twitter hashtag emojis for all 32 teams. According to SocialFlow, a social media publishing and analytics company, the Patriots have had the most mentions since Sept. 7 when they emojis debuted. As of early Friday morning, the number passed 332,000.
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At No. 2, the Denver Broncos’ hashtag (#Broncos) has been mentioned over 244,00 times while the Philadelphia Eagles’ #FlyEaglesFly has been used roughly 201,000 times. The Pittsburgh Steelers (#HereWeGo, 160K) and Carolina Panthers (#KeepPounding, 155K) rounded out the top five.
SocialFlow found that the NFL’s first Thursday Night Football live stream contributed to the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills receiving an uptick in social engagement. The #JetUp and #GoBills hashtags increased over 600 percent and 476 percent, respectively, in the 24 hours after the game.
During the morning hours on Friday after the game, the Jets’ hashtag had around 18,000 mentions, which was 167 percent higher than Thursday.
Twitter has placed a concerted effort toward finding fun and interactive ways for fans to engage on the social channel, and emojis have been at the forefront of that discussion. Earlier this year, the social channel partnered with the NHL and NBA for their respective All-Star Weekends while there were 250-plus emojis released around the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.