Tracking the #Debates: From Big Bird to Bayonets

By CARLY LEVISON Social media is changing the way Americans view the presidential debates. In a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Rachael Horwitz, a spokeswoman for Twitter noted that, “four years ago, the term 'social media' wasn't widely used. On Election Day 2008, there were 1.8 million tweets. Now, that many tweets are sent every six minutes.”  In fact, the first presidential debate in Denver was the most-tweeted event in American political history, with 10.3 million tweets in 90 minutes. We took a look at the activity on Twitter during each debate and noted what comments spurred the most chatter. These are measured in tweets per minutes based on references to the presidential debate, candidates and related terms. Although the first debate had the most tweets per minutes overall, the remaining debates still averaged almost 100,000 tweets per minute. Denver: 10.3 Million Tweets 158,690 TPM - Lehrer quips “Let’s not.” 152,677 TPM - Obama: “I had ?ve seconds.” 149,762 TPM - Discussion of Medicare 139,677 TPM - Romney spars with Lehrer over rules 137,683 TPM - Obama calls Romney plan “never mind.” 135,356 TPM - Romney mentions Obamacare. 135,332 TPM - Big Bird 132,790 TPM - Discussing bipartisanship for healthcare 113,726 TPM - Discussion of “trickle down government. 94,409 TPM - Romney joke about Obama anniversary   Hempstead: 7.2 Million Tweets 109,560 TMP - Immigration/Romney slip on questioner’s name 108,619 TMP – Obama: “You’re the last person to get tough on China.” 107,386 TMP – Romney on tax rates 106,765 TMP - Romney on gun control 105,376 TPM - Obama on Libya 104,704 TPM – Equal pay for women 102,455 TPM - Obama: “My pension’s not as big as yours.” 99,242 TMP – Candidates argue over oil question 68,567 TMP – Crowley Halts   Boca Raton – 6.5 Million Tweets 105,767 TPM - “Fewer horses and bayonets.” 102,339 TPM - Schieffer: “I think we all love teachers” 87,040 TPM - Romney on Obama’s “Apology Tour” 85,152 TMP - Schieffer steers back to foreign policy 78,069 TPM - Romney on auto industry 76,720 TPM - Obama on Assad/Syria 74,856 TPM - Small business discussion 70,639 TMP - Obama: “You said Russia was #1” threat to national security   Social media has become a ubiquitous part of the campaign for both President Obama and Senator Romney. Social media is an instantaneous reaction to every comment, which can drive the issues to the forefront, but also exploit  slip-ups. For example, Big Bird Halloween costumes are selling out all across the country in response to Mitt Romney’s comments about the popular PBS program. Social media can’t predict the election, but with 82 percent of U.S. adults now use social media, and 88 percent of them registered voters, it is not something to be taken lightly.