Simon Cowell Leaving Idol: Shock, Indifference and Optimism [Twitter Stats]

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Crimson Hexagon looked at the sentiment of 1,500 opinion tweets (news and non-opinion tweets were filtered out) this afternoon on the news to gauge the Twittersphere's reaction. Data from the collected and analyzed tweets show a mixed bag of reactions ranging from utter disappointment to ambivalence and even people lashing out at CNN for deeming the announcement a breaking news story:

Here's a breakdown of the analysis (or see graph below):

- 36 percent, or more than one third, of the Twitter reactions were sad and disappointed by the news

- 23 percent, or almost one forth, were tweets lashing out at CNN for labeling the story "Breaking News"

- 17 percent think Cowell's departure signifies the end of the American Idol television dynasty

- 12 percent took the opportunity to tell their Twitter followers that they never watched or liked the show to begin with

- 11 percent are talking about Cowell's show The X Factor, and are excited about the possibilities