If you were on Twitter, Snapchat or Facebook last Monday, you may have seen a flood of political postings. Many social media services ignited and featured ways for users to directly share content with specific taglines and subject matter about the election.
Many Snapchatters simply watched the debate with filters placed upon candidates.
Donald Trump took a majority of media mentions, taking almost 62 percent of Twitter mentions. Hillary Clinton took home some 38 percent. Facebook mentions went mostly towards Trump by a large margin. Most mentions consisted of three specific exchanges during the length of the program.
The top mentions referenced Trump’s “temperament.” Trump claimed during the debate that his temperament was one of his “winning” characteristics.
“Well I have much better judgment than she does. There’s no question about that. I also have a much better temperament than she has,” Trump said. The audience, who had agreed to remain silent—more than audibly laughed.
The audience did respond several times during the debate, despite admonishments from debate Lester Holt.
The second most mentioned moment was when Trump remarked on the constitutionality of the stop-and-frisk policy in New York. The exchange was heated, where Holt reminded Trump of the court opinion that the policy was found by the New York courts to be unconstitutional.
However, the specific details of the decision and the legal processes are both in and against their statements. Stop-and-frisks remain legal in many states, however there have been rulings that in action, there have been unconstitutional implementations of stop-and-frisk.
The third most Tweeted moment was an exchange between Clinton and Trump over their plans to defeat ISIS. Social media was less than impressed, with both candidates routinely dodging questions on multiple occasions and suffering through mutual interruptions and escalated exchanges.
The next Presidential Debate will feature questions that citizens can vote on by going to presidentialquestions.com. Judging by social media, an ever-intricate portion of public opinion and forum, the October 9 will prove crucial to swaying voters.
Barton Kleen
Executive Editor