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ShareThis Midterm Elections_2014
The document analyzes social media sharing of the 2014 US midterm elections. It found that: - Facebook was the dominant platform for sharing about candidates and issues, accounting for 71% of total shares. The top issues shared were climate change, healthcare, and immigration. - Sharing varied significantly by state and race, with more sharing supporting Republican candidates in states like Arkansas, Kentucky, and Wisconsin compared to Democratic candidates. - Millennials were more likely than older groups to share about politics and midterm elections, especially issues like climate change, student loans, and net neutrality. They also reacted more quickly to new events, with twice as much sharing within 24 hours.
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ShareThis Midterm Elections_2014
- 1. SHARING THE 2014MIDTERM ELECTIONS
- 2. 2 TIMEFRAME: JUL– OCT 2014 AUDIENCE: 2.9M USERS ACTIVITY: 4.9M SHARES 68% WHERE THEY SHARED 9% 10% 3% 71% 15% 8% Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit Blogger Email Other WHAT THEY SHARED ABOUT 1.4M Shares 3.4M Shares The Candidates The Issues 497K Shares 301K Shares WHO THEY SHARED ABOUT Democrats Republicans Outer circle: midterm sharing Inner circle: general sharing SHARING THE MIDTERMS
- 3. 3 3,664 2,934 1,753 1,335 1,328 1,215 1,214 960 TOP ISSUES, BASED ON SOCIAL ACTIVITY (share counts in thousands) 903 835 780 734 Climate Change Healthcare Immigration Taxes Foreign Affairs Student Loans Economy Net Neutrality Equal Pay Same Sex Marriage Drug Policy Abortion 88% 86% 81% 75% 73% 69% 69% 65% 64% 64% 50% 40% TOP ISSUES, BASED ON GALLUP SURVEY Sept 25-30, 2014 (% Extremely/Very Important) Economy Jobs Government Effectiveness Equal Pay Federal Budget Taxes Foreign Affairs Immigration Healthcare Income Distribution Abortion Climate Change THE ISSUES
- 4. 4 In-state sharingactivity surrounding selected key races SENATE GOVERNOR 9,055 14,861 ARKANSAS Tom Cotton KENTUCKY Joni Ernst Mitch McConnell Alison Lundergan Grimes 5,181 6,768 1,403 Bill Cassidy LOUISIANA Mary Landrieu 6,176 23,086 Bruce Braley IOWA 4,785 Mark Pryor 59,561 73,608 ARKANSAS Asa Hutchinson FLORIDA Rick Scott Charlie Crist 24,829 8,423 PENNSYLVANIA Tom Corbett Tom Wolf 9,889 26,917 WISCONSIN Scott Walker Mary Burke 3,456 6,324 Mike Ross THE CANDIDATES
- 5. DAILY SHARING ACTIVITY July 18 – October 18, 2014 Republican Candidates Democratic Candidates 18-Jul 25-Jul 1-Aug 8-Aug 15-Aug 22-Aug 29-Aug 5-Sep 12-Sep 19-Sep 26-Sep 3-Oct 10-Oct 17-Oct 5 THE CONTENT
- 6. 6 THE NETWORKS CANDIDATE ACTIVITY BY CHANNEL Democrats Republicans 58% 27% 13% 79% 14% 6% FACEBOOK TWITTER REDDIT
- 7. 7 ISSUES BYCHANNEL SHARING LIFT BY CHANNEL* Comparison between topic breakouts within channels. For example, Facebook sharers were 34% less likely to share about climate change IMPORTANCE OF ISSUES BY PARTY IDENTIFICATION Climate Change Equal Pay Abortion Healthcare Economy Foreign Affairs Taxes Immigration More important to democrats More important to republicans -34% -14% -41% +6% +42% +21% +14% +21% +46% +11% +16% -13% +24% +10% -14% -21% +67% +32% +12% +15% -41% +23% -64% -24% FACEBOOK Source: Gallup, 9/25 to 9/30 REDDIT TWITTER
- 8. Based on marginof sharing activity Republican Democrat FLORIDA D - 57% R – 43% KENTUCKY D - 38% R – 62% WISCONSIN D - 30% R – 70% 8 ARKANSAS D - 14% R – 86% IOWA D - 22% R – 78% LOUISIANA D - 65% R – 35% PENNSYLVANIA D - 75% R – 25% Current Senate Party Membership RECOLORING THE MAP
- 9. 9 MILLENNIALS –UNAFFILIATED, BUT NOT UNINVOLVED % OF PEOPLE WHO SHARED GENERAL POLITICS CONTENT: 47% GEN. POP. 20% MILLENNIALS % OF PEOPLE WHO SHARED ABOUT THE MIDTERMS: 33% 16% # OF CLICKBACKS ON MIDTERM-RELATED SHARES: 23 14 2.4x As likely to share about politics 2.1x As likely to share about the midterm elections 1.7x As likely to influence others with their shares
- 10. 10 TOP ISSUESFOR MILLENIALS Heightened dialogue around education, earth, drugs, and the internet Compared to the general population, millennials are 50% more likely to share about climate change… ….2.6x as likely to share about student loans ….3.1x as likely to share about net neutrality ….2.4x as likely to share about drug policy 1.5x 2.6x 3.1x 0.7x 2.4x 1.3x 0.8x 1.0x 1.3x 0.7x 1.2x 0.7x Climate Change Student Loans Net Neutrality Healthcare Drug Policy Foreign Affairs Immigration Economy Same Sex Marriage Taxes Abortion Equal Pay Millennials Lift vs Gen Population
- 11. 11 2.1x 24HOURS 1.2x 1.1x 0.9x 0.8x 0.7x 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 65+ 1.0x 1 - 2 DAYS 0.9x 0.9x 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 65+ 1 - 2 WEEKS 1.2x 0.8x 0.7x 0.8x 0.9x 1.1x 1.2x 1.2x 1.5x 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 65+ MILLENIALS ARE THE FIRST TO REACT Within a few days, older users begin picking up on it. After 1 – 2 weeks, millennials aren’t nearly as involved in the discussion as their elders. VOLUME OF SHARES LIFT VS AGE GROUP AVERAGE Millennials are nearly twice as likely to share about an issue within 24 hours of an important event. (in this case, we looked at the ongoing ISIS conflict in the middle east and sharing about foreign policy)
- 12. SHARING THE 2014MIDTERM ELECTIONS