The two candidates for the United States presidency may be duking it out in the battleground states in the last three days before the election, but their supporters are turning Twitter into a battleground of their own. This election cycle has seen Twitter come alive as a political tool (largely thanks to Donald Trump’s penchant for the social media platform), and a new report from Abodo looks at the digital climate over the last few weeks leading up to the historic election.
As part of its “Best Places to Live” series, the apartment hunting app looked at 426,000 tweets for hashtags related to controversial political issues to find where folks were “voicing support or angst for presidential candidates.” Because if you’re moving to a new ‘hood, you might want to agree with your neighbors’ front lawn signs.
According to Abodo’s findings, “#NeverTrump was mentioned in a greater volume of tweets than #NeverHillary — but not necessarily as a favorite.” Perhaps the most anti-Trump states were Maine, followed by New Jersey, New York, and Nevada. #NeverHillary was prevalent in swing-state Iowa, but as Abodo pointed out, “even her top-tweeting state was no match for the anti-Trump noise; the volume of tweets related to the leading locations against each candidate revealed more than a 74 percent difference.”
In terms of more positive feelings, Abodo’s results suggested more folks are with #WithHer than on the #TrumpTrain. The app reported, “Clinton had a greater volume of tweets sent her way,” with Colorado boasting the largest numbers of tweets in support of Hillary. Vermont, the state of Clinton’s formal rival Bernie Sanders, also expressed their love for Hillary via Twitter. Trump, on the other hand, saw “far fewer Twitter postings containing #TrumpTrain,” though his popularity is most apparent in Mississippi and Michigan.
Of course, hashtags are not actual votes, so don’t stop at Twitter — get yourself to a polling station on November 8, and turn those tweets into ballots.
