Article Image

IPFS News Link • Social Networking/Social Media

Why social media couldn't call Trump's victory

• cnet.com by Terry Collins

Chris Kerns is still asking himself what happened on Election Day.

Kerns, who runs research at social media analytics firm Spredfast, had a mountain of social media data at his disposal on Tuesday. But he was seeing so many conflicting signs in the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton that he didn't feel comfortable giving the edge to either candidate.

"I wasn't confident calling anything," Kerns said. "It was still too tight."

Before Trump's stunning victory, CNET News had asked the Austin, Texas-based Spredfast to see if its data could call which candidate would be the next commander-in-chief. Could social media fill the role that exit polls have traditionally played?

It proved tougher than expected.

Of course, Spredfast wasn't alone in struggling to predict the election. Numerous exit polls picked Clinton. They got it flat-out wrong.

Political pundits and analysts, many of whom had correctly predicted previous campaigns, were similarly stumped. They proved incapable of seeing a Trump triumph.

We'll likely spend months, if not years, trying to figure out what went wrong.


PurePatriot