Analysis: Gibbs' midterm comments had effect on Twitterverse

(CNN) - An analysis of tweets in the days around White House press secretary Robert Gibbs' comments about the midterm elections suggest the White House press secretary's words did have an effect in the Twitterverse.

On Sunday's "Meet the Press," Gibbs answered a question on whether Democrats might lose their grip on power in Congress: "I think there is no doubt there are enough seats in play - that could cause Republicans to gain control."

In the days before Gibbs' comments, tweets that supported Democrats in the midterms were higher than those that supported Republicans, 57-47 percent, according to Crimson Hexagon, which analyzes social media chatter.

From Sunday to Monday, those numbers reversed - 53 percent of tweets were pro-Republicans to 43 percent pro-Democrat, according to Melyssa Plunkett-Gomez, Crimson Hexagon vice president of business development.

While not scientific, the analysis searched for messages that contained pro-Democrat/anti-Republican sentiments or made more specific statements reflecting a position that supported Democrats keeping control of Congress, Plunkett-Gomez said, and those that contained pro-GOP/anti-Democrat sentiments or statements or advocated a Republican takeover of Congress.

The number of tweets expressing both sentiments increased dramatically in the days around Gibbs comments - from 1,000 to 1,600 between July 1 and Sunday, to 3,000 Sunday and Monday, Plunkett-Gomez said.