How Hillary Won First Twitter Election

In the polls four years ago, social media was just one of the campaign tools, but not this time.

- Geeta Singh

FROM ‘Trump-y tweets’ and hacked emails to hilarious anecdotes on social media and names calling, like ‘Crooked Hillary’, the 2016 US Elections has turned more into an entertaining TV show than the serious affair an election normally is. Many weird things took place in the race for the White House. “Delete your account”, for example, became a popular internet meme and Russia and China as the most unwelcome guests played a vital role in the campaign.

This election has seen Twitter as a telling exchange. It also transformed the over 20-month-long rigorous campaign into the country’s first nationwide Twitter election. The 140-character tool became the fierce weapon to insult the opponent bluntly. It also highlighted that both presidential hopefuls - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump - bypassed the traditional media to use social media effectively to convey their messages and speak directly to voters.

Analysts noticed that most Trump-y tweets (endless jokes) from his account originated from different mobile devices, whereas Clinton’s campaign took a traditional approach - operating as a massive brand. Many of her campaign’s tweets were the typical boilerplate of politics — thanking supporters, reiterating her position on various issues, forwarding news of endorsements and other such mundane developments.