The presidential elections for the top job in the US generated huge activity on the social media site Facebook, with 289 million people around the world expressing an interest in the contest on the online platform.
As per data provided by Facebook, between March 23, 2015 and November one, 2016, Facebook saw 289 million people generating 10 billion likes, posts, comments and shares related to the presidential election.
It was on March 23 that Republican Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for president, becoming the first candidate to do so.
Substantial interest was generated India too. In the fight for the US presidency between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, users from the country accounted for over 9.3 million logs in election-related activities. The Indian users of Facebook generated over 40 million likes, posts, comments and shares related to the US election.
In 2015 also, the most talked-about topic on Facebook was the US presidential election. It generated more activity compared to the terror attacks in Paris in November last year. Even a year before the elections, the contest was a huge point of global conversation. From campaign announcements to debate performances, the candidates made headlines throughout the year.
Facebook became a platform where people came to talk about issues, find news and information, and also engage with the politicians vying for presidency.
The top ten moments from the campaign on Facebook included the second presidential debate on October nine, the release of the Access Hollywood tape, the first presidential debate on September 26, the third presidential debate on October 19 and the democratic convention.
With regard to Clinton, the `I’m with her’ campaign generated the highest activity on Facebook. Trump's FB page also proved to be one with the biggest attention-grabbing contents.
