California's Budget Propositions Lead a Diverse Online Conversation

From May 18-22, the No. 1 story in social media was the California financial crisis and the voters' rejection of ballot initiatives designed to deal with the problem. That subject generated 17% of the week's links, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Conservative bloggers in particular honed in on the subject, claiming the votes were a rejection of higher taxes and bigger government-and a message to politicians throughout the country.