SYRACUSE -- The presidential candidates kicked up their online campaigning during the Republican and Democratic national conventions.
The most popular tweet of the Republican National Convention was from President Obama. He tweeted a picture of his chair with the caption, "this seat’s taken," in response to Clint Eastwood’s speech.
At the same time, Mitt Romney’s campaign became the first political campaign to purchase a trending topic on Twitter. The hash tag #RomneyRyan2012 was trending during the Convention.
President Obama participated in an online question and answer session on the social media site Reddit during the week of the RNC. According the LA Times, the President’s appearance "helped set an all-time traffic record for the popular social news website."
The President answered user submitted questions about the economy, internet freedom, and the space program, among others. One user even asked for the White House’s beer recipe, to which President Obama said, "It will be out soon! I can tell from first hand experience, it is tasty."
The conventions themselves were highly discussed and covered on social media, particularly on Twitter. According to NBC News, there were about 10 million tweets during DNC with users responding to the various speeches in real time.
President Obama’s speech peaked at 52,756 tweets per minute around the time he said, "I’m no longer just the candidate, I’m the President"
Michelle Obama’s speech peaked at 28,003 tweets per minute and Former President Bill Clinton’s speech peaked at 22,087.
During the Republican National Convention, Romney’s speech peaked at 14,289 tweets per minute and Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s speech peaked at 6,669 tweets per minute.
