While the Democratic and Republican National Conventions both wrapped over the past two weeks, the events continue to be scrutinized by pundits, including who and what resonated most, in particular on social media. CNN Digital Producer Eric Weisbrod took a closer look, in recent days, at Facebook’s “Talk Meter” analysis which assigns a number (1-10) to a person or event’s magnitude.
Taking into account all major news and events of the past two weeks, Barack Obama, registered the highest mark among Facebook’s 160 million U.S. users with a 7.28 rating. He was followed by the Democratic National Convention overall (7.09) and Bill Clinton (7.08). The Republican National Convention overall came next in fourth place with a 6.82, followed by the MTV Video Music Awards (6.67). Mitt Romney checked in behind the NFL Season Opener, Clint Eastwood, Hurricane Isaac and others in tenth place with a 5.04 rating.
What does all of this mean exactly? Does the fact that more people were posting on Facebook about Barack Obama portend a winning popular vote? Not necessarily. One thing the “Talk Meter” analysis does not measure is “tone”; in other words, is that chatter positive or negative and to what degree. It would suggest, however, that the president and what he represents are found to be more compelling in one way or another, spurring a larger number of the masses to commentary.
What the camps of both candidates are sure to find useful are the geographic breakouts where President Obama’s jump in chatter was found to be highest in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia. Exact content of posts aside, cross-checking this information with polling data could serve as yet another point of reference for determining popularity in particular states. Indeed, it is a noteworthy snapshot of what ‘moves’ the U.S. people with Election Day now less than 60 days away.