MediaPost has posted a great roundup of metrics from a variety of sources that describe the increase in social media traffic related to the November 2 U.S. election. Some traffic and usage highlights:
- Internet traffic overall surged on Tuesday, according to Akamai Technologies, which said activity peaked at 5.7 million page views per minute in the evening, 32.5% higher than the 2008 peak of 4.3 million page views per minute.
- Over 12 million people posted status updates on Facebook saying they voted — up 120% from 2008, when 5.44 million people reported voting on Facebook.
- Location-based social networks also posted stats on user engagement: 50,000 people checked in at polling places on Foursquare to claim the limited-edition “iVoted” badge — a fraction (1.25%) of Foursquare’s own total user base of four million.
MediaPost also looked at the ability of sites like Facebook to predict winners:
- 74% of House candidates with the most Facebook fans won their contests
- In the Senate, 81% of candidates with the most Facebook fans won their contests
More details and analysis at MediaPost.
