Analysis: Web is Abuzz with Dr. Fauci

Thanks to his calming screen presence at White House coronavirus press briefings and appearances on cable and broadcast TV, Dr. Anthony Fauci is an online rock star. 

That is according to an analysis by strategic communications firm Rational 360. 

Source: Rational 360

Source: Rational 360

The company points out that according to its analysis, Dr. Fauci was mentioned fewer than 25 times per day online on average. Since media coverage of the doctor started increasing at the end of February with increased coverage of the pandemic, that average has skyrocketed to over 30,000 mentions a day. 

Even though the doctor does not have a twitter account, according to Rational 360, his online mentions have pushed past celebrities with large Twitter followings including Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, Ellen DeGeneres and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

Rational 360 said it had combed through more than 300 million U.S.-based online posts about the coronavirus between its discovery Dec. 1st and 4 p.m. on March 31.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.