The Oscars: A Social Media Story

Mar 13, 2024 | From the Breakroom

By Martin Cordova, Optimization and Reporting Manager

From #Barbenheimer to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA Strikes, 2023 was a lively year in the cinematic world. Drawing attention to the best and worst in the movie business, #AcademyAwards engagement with the industry both on and off the screen was more dynamic than usual. But did the enhanced level of interest translate to a boost in social media chatter with Hollywood’s biggest night?

Spoiler alert… Yes it did.

Oscars Over the Years: Are Users Watching?

Based on mentions of #Oscars made during the broadcast, live social engagement with the ceremony and viewership increased by 8% and 4% year-over-year, respectively.

Martin’s Musings

Do viewers tuning in from free FUBO trial get counted? Asking for a friend.

Despite a positive year-over-year trend, engagement and viewership still fell short of pre-pandemic figures, aligning with a broader decline in the number of pay-TV households.

Martin’s Musings

But if my time lurking on Film Twitter and writing countless Letterboxd reviews are anything to go off, interest in movies on social media is alive and well.

Moments That Moved Us

Diving deeper into engagement with this year’s ceremony, the 2024 Oscars broadcast and associated live coverage drove over 3.5M mentions across all observed social platforms.

Engagement steadily increased throughout the evening, reaching its apex at the end when Oppenheimer was awarded Best Picture. While we know they always save the best for last, we suspect users may have tuned in late not realizing that the awards started an hour earlier this year (or two if you factor in Daylight Savings).

Winners and Scene Stealers

Buzziest Movie

Following its commendable winning spree of 7 Oscars, Oppenheimer emerged as a standout film in social conversations as well, earning 523.6K social mentions throughout the evening. This was the highest total mentions for any film this year, making up 15% of all Oscars engagement.

Martin’s Musings

The 3rd highest grossing film winning best picture? Adult oriented populace cinema is back!

#Oppenheimer wins 7 total #Oscars

Best Picture

Best Director

Best Actor

Best Supporting Actor

Best Film Editing

Best Cinematography

Best Original Score

Best Original Score

— Culture Crave (@CultureCrave) March 10, 2024

Despite only winning one of the eight awards it was nominated for, Barbie emerged as the second most discussed film, motivated by enthusiasm around Ryan Gosling’s kenergetic performance of “I’m Just Ken” and Billy Eilish’s “What was I made for?” performance and subsequent Best Original Song win.

The Boy and The Heron + Godzilla Minus One = 2 Oscars

Nominated for awards in the Best Animated Film and Best Visual effects categories, The Boy and the Heron and Godzilla Minus One took home the awards for their respective categories. These films highlighted the international appeal of the Oscars with 333.4k mentions, over 9% of all Oscars volume, celebrating both wins and nearly 100k mentions in Japanese.

I got an Oscar! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
#Oscars #Oscars2024

— 野島達司 / TatsujiNojima (@TatsujiNojima) March 10, 2024

[Academy Awards Breaking News] Hayao Miyazaki wins Best Animated Feature for "How Are You Living?" This is the first award for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli in 21 years since "Spirited Away."
natalie.mu/eiga/news/564014
#Oscars2024 #Oscars

— 映画ナタリ (@eiga_natalie) March 10, 2024

Scruffy Star Steals the Spotlight

While the night included highlights from the award’s human presenters, nominees, and attendees, one furry character managed to catch everyone’s hearts.

Messi, the breakout star of Anatomy of the Fall was seen backstage rehearsing with host Jimmy Kimmel before being spotted applauding for Robert Downey Jr. as he received his award for Best Supporting Actor.

Martin’s Musings

Despite this being Messi’s first major live broadcast appearance, this good boy was anything but messy.

Messi at the #Oscars

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) March 10, 2024

Host with the Roasts

While Jimmy Kimmel received some flak from users early in the show over some jabs that didn’t really fly with the crowd, it was the host’s snarky reading of Donald Trump’s ‘review’ of the event that drove the highest Kimmel related mentions. Based on the response to John Mulaney’s Field of Dreams bit, perhaps the host should consider making other plans for next year.

Donald Trump’s crude, immature, and deranged social media post on the Oscars was just ruthlessly mocked by Jimmy Kimmel on live television in front of the world’s biggest celebrities on one of the most watched events of the year and the entire room laughed in his face. This is his nightmare.

— Brett Meiselas (@BMeiselas) March 10, 2024

Post Credits Scene

This year’s Oscars had everything. From the controversial shut out of Killers of the Flower Moon to tasteful male nudity, the broadcast delivered users much to talk about and modest engagement success. Looking at the future, if the Oscars aim to return to their engagement highs from 2017, they may want to consider streaming the event in the U.S. like the Grammy’s did earlier this year to great success.

Martin’s Musings

I can only get so many free FUBO trials in one year.

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