Following a chemical weapons attack in Syria on Aug. 21, tensions between the Assad regime and the west have risen dramatically — and we've seen a corresponding rise in social media talk over a possible U.S.-led response.
Quite interesting to note is the effective disappearance of the very big story surrounding ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been leaking documents detailing top-secret surveillance programs since June.
Only two days ago, the entire budget of the U.S. intelligence community — the so-called "black budget"— was made public for the first time, thanks to those leaks. Despite these huge developments, and those still waiting to be revealed, it seems that Snowden and the NSA have fallen off the radar.
Here's a chart illustrating this from Topsy Analytics. As you can see, the rise of "Syria" mentions completely tower over any mentions of "NSA" or "Snowden."
