Social media in the United States presidential election, 2016 facts for kids

In 2016, social media had a huge impact on the United States presidential election. For the first time, social media actually helped shape the election. It changed how the Democratic and Republican parties planned their early elections, called primaries. Many reporters had expected this to happen.

How Social Media Helped Candidates

Many candidates running for president in the 2016 election found social media very helpful.

Bernie Sanders' Social Media Success

Many people believe social media was a big reason why Bernie Sanders did so well in the Democratic primary elections. By May 2016, a Facebook group supporting Sanders, called Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash, had 450,000 members. Another group, Bernie or Hillary?, also supported him online.

Donald Trump's Online Boost

Most people also think social media played a key role in Donald Trump's success in the Republican primary elections. The strong activity of Donald Trump's supporters on social media was even discussed during the first Republican debate.

The Right Side Broadcasting Network often uploaded live videos of Donald Trump's rallies on YouTube. This made their popularity grow a lot.

Hillary Clinton's Digital Efforts

In April 2016, a group called Correct the Record started a program called "Barrier Breakers." This group supported Hillary Clinton. It aimed to compete with the many online volunteers helping Sanders and Trump. Correct the Record spent $1 million to hire people. These staff members included former reporters, bloggers, and designers. Their job was to post positive things about Clinton online.

On June 9, 2016, Donald Trump tweeted about President Obama supporting Clinton. In response, Clinton sent a three-word tweet: "Delete your account." This tweet became her most shared tweet ever. By the end of June 2016, this tweet had been interacted with over 1,000,000 times.

Memes in Politics

One type of social media used in the 2016 election was memes. Memes are funny images or videos that spread quickly online. The newspaper The Guardian compared political memes to old-fashioned political cartoons. They said that for the first time in a U.S. election, memes created by regular people became very important in political discussions. While a single meme might not end a politician's career, many memes targeting a candidate could cause problems. Many memes were made to criticize Ted Cruz.

Images for kids

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  Donald Trump's official White House portrait (taken 2017)

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  Hillary Clinton in 2016

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  Twitter activity of Ted Cruz

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  Twitter activity of Bernie Sanders from his first tweet in May 2009. His Twitter activity increased during his presidential campaign.

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  Twitter activity of Jill Stein from her first tweet in February 2010 to September 2017. Her Twitter activity increased during her presidential campaign in 2012 and 2016