The US election season was bruising, with swing after swing. The candidates stayed close, so the results felt close too. Donald Trump won the presidency, but the social platform that won the cycle was Twitter.
More than a billion tweets related to the race went out from the first presidential debate onward, making Twitter the busiest place to talk about the election. Unlike quieter cycles, this one was packed with scandals and sharp lines. Americans who wanted to argue politics picked Twitter.
More than 40 million tweets on Election Day
Traffic peaked on Election Day. From early morning the site hummed, and ad sellers called party staff in battleground states with last-minute inventory aimed at undecided voters.
Twitter’s own numbers told the story. With 317 million active users it does not lead on headcount, but it is where breaking news gets hashed out. By about 10 p.m., more than 40 million election tweets had gone out. In 2012 Election Day totaled about 31 million, so the climb continued.
One tweet can become the story
To keep the momentum, Twitter partnered with BuzzFeed on a live broadcast. Eric Trump photographing his ballot and posting it, despite the legal issues, spilled onto other networks and kept Twitter at the center of the conversation. Newsy tweets like that pull people back onto the platform.
Eric Trump just broke the law by taking a ballot selfie. Here’s where it’s illegal. https://t.co/tjekamqMAm pic.twitter.com/QgVmT3NZ6r
— Vox (@voxdotcom) November 8, 2016
One last detail: aides reportedly took control of Donald Trump’s account near the end so he would not drop a vote-swaying tweet. That alone says plenty about how much the platform can move opinion.
