{"id":1595,"date":"2011-11-23T13:17:12","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T19:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chrissniderdesign.com\/blog\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2011-11-23T13:17:12","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T19:17:12","slug":"can-social-media-predict-the-2012-gop-presidential-nominee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrissniderdesign.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/23\/can-social-media-predict-the-2012-gop-presidential-nominee\/","title":{"rendered":"Can social media predict the 2012 GOP Presidential nominee?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can social media predict the 2012 GOP presidential nominee? That’s the question I asked for a recent panel presentation to the National Communication Association<\/a> at its annual convention in New Orleans. <\/p>\n

I proposed that the more popular a candidate is on social media, and the more a candidate is able to engage others on social media, the more successful the candidate will be in caucuses, primaries and the election.<\/p>\n

To test this, I looked at 17 different measures of social media success – both in terms of popularity (the amount of reach for each candidate) and engagement (how well candidates used the tools). The results mirrored recent national polls, meaning there may be some value to this data.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at how the candidates rank in each area (all data was from Nov. 13, 2011).<\/p>\n

1. Total followers on Twitter<\/h3>\n

It’s worth noting that Gingrich had 1.3 million followers as far back as March, so his huge following is not necessarily tied to the election.<\/p>\n