NetBase 2012 Election Mood Meter

We are officially in the era where social media is mainstream. And one place where this is very obvious is in the Presidential election. With Twitter handles for each candidate and hashtags for following along during debates and other critical events leading up to Election Day, understanding the social response has been an unprecedented part of this election. This week, NetBase debuted the 2012 Election Mood Meter, real-time dials that display the sentiment for each candidate, President and Vice President, based on the last ten minutes of Twitter conversations. Split into three rows to gauge the sentiment expressed by men, women and the overall Twitter population, the dials update every ten seconds.

We kept tabs on the Mood Meter during last week’s VP debate and found sentiment spikes corresponding to specific points during the debate: everything from opinions on Medicare to Biden’s mention of Romney’s comment on the 47%. The Mood Meter results are below.

In anticipation of the Town Hall Presidential debate, many wondered whether Obama would get his groove back after a lackluster performance during the first debate. On Tuesday’s Presidential debate, we monitored the fluctuations again – and found that the Twitter conversations favored Obama, particularly dinging Romney on his interruptions and commentary on gender equality. Check out the graph below:

Please be sure to tune in on Monday for the final debate and be sure to watch the Mood Meter to see the real-time response. Let me know in the comments, and check out another recap here, from the Bay Area News Group.