Donald Trump drives social media conversation

Donald Trump is not only leading the field in the polls, he is also driving the social media conversation during the Republican presidential debate. In the first hour of the debate on Jan 14, Trump led 33 percent of the Twitter conversation, according to data from the social media company. Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) followed, with 25 percent of the conversation, then Dr Ben Carson, at 11 percent, and Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jeb Bush tied at 10 percent. The billionaire GOP front-runner also gained the most Twitter followers during that hour, followed by Sen Rand Paul (R-TX), Sen Cruz, Sen Rubio and Gov Chris Christie (R-NJ). Sen Paul did not qualify for the main-debate stage and boycotted the undercard debate. Instead, he invited supporters to join him in an online Facebook town hall during the earlier bout.

Since the debate started, Democratic presidential candidates Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Hillary Clinton have also seen big Twitter growth — more than all GOP candidates except Trump, Sen Paul and Sen Cruz. On Facebook, Trump was the most-discussed candidate overall. Sen Cruz was second, followed by Sen Rubio, Dr Carson and Gov Christie.