More evidence today that the 2012 election really is the first true social media election: Twitter has announced that this year’s Republican National convention has already generated more tweets than the entire 2008 Convention.
And this year’s party hasn’t even gotten off the ground yet. Even with a weather delay that postponed all of the opening speeches one day, Twitter users are buzzing about the 2012 Convention.
Twitter announced this little factoid inside a blog post that highlights the creation of a new event page for the convention. Twitter recently unveiled event pages, which feature a mix of algorithmically-chosen and hand-picked tweets about an event. Twitter says they’re designed to give users a central hub for in-depth, real-time coverage and have used event pages for the recent Summer Olympics as well as earlier sporting events like NASCAR races and international soccer tournaments.
Facebook is also making a more concerted effort to cover the election from the social angle. Their U.S. Politics and Government team is taking on both conventions this year, and the company has entered into partnership with CNN to bring election insights as well as a new Open Graph voting app to users.
And if you’re looking for a place to watch all of the convention speeches, YouTube is live-streaming both conventions this year.
Looking forward to a great day here at #GOP2012 – can’t wait to hear @GovChristie and @AnnDRomney speak tonight !