#DNC2012: 3 million Tweets and counting

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Although it’s just the first night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, people have already posted more than 3 million Tweets, including #DNC2012 and related terms. In comparison, there were 4 million Tweets sent throughout the three days of last week’s Republican National Convention (#RNC2012).

Among tonight’s keynotes, First Lady Michelle Obama’s (@MichelleObama) primetime speech peaked at 28,003 Tweets per minute (TPM) at its conclusion — nearly double Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s (@MittRomney) 14,289 peak. One line in her speech this evening — “we’ve got so much more to do” — saw 22,004 TPM.

While the First Lady was addressing the convention, the President tweeted from the best seat in the (White) House:

With his TPM peak at 11,503, Mayor Julian Castro (@JulianCastro) drove more Twitter conversation than any #GOP2012 speaker except for Governor Romney. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (@DevalPatrick) and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (@GovernorOMalley) also drove strong conversations on Twitter, with 6,909 and 7,502 peak TPM respectively.

Actor and activist Kal Penn (@KalPenn) grabbed our @gov team’s attention when he gave a Twitter shoutout during his stage appearance. Moments before taking his place at the podium, he tweeted his view — and his #sexyface — from backstage:

(In case you’re curious, #sexyface became its own trending topic with nearly 2,000 TPM.)

While many speakers were tweeting from backstage, some of the best pictures of the night came the floor of the convention itself. Delegates armed with smartphones brought us all closer to the podium with photos from their points of view. One of the best was @JoyCookPR, a North Carolina delegate, with prime position at the front of the delegates.

From a position further back, New York delegate @EunicOrtiz was able to show the response of the crowd:

Keep an eye on the #DNC2012 hashtag page through the rest of the convention this week as people tweet their experiences and reactions. We’ll also be tracking more of the big moments on @gov and on the blog.

Posted by Adam Sharp (@AdamS)
Head of Government, News and Social Innovation