Mitt Romney Losing 847 Facebook Friends Per Hour
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is losing about 847 Facebook “friends” every hour since he lost the presidential race late Tuesday night.
Soon after Romney conceded the election to President Obama, people began defriending the GOP politician on Facebook. More than 55,025 users have unliked the former Massachussetts Governor’s Facebook page since 11:30 pm on Tuesday, averaging 847 each hour, reports The Examiner.
President Obama, however, has received more likes since his re-election was announced. As of 4 pm EST on Saturday, the President had 33,176,856 Facebook likes, which is more than 80,000 more than he had on election night. It is also about 21 million more than Mitt Romney had at the same time Saturday.
Obama’s official Twitter account has also seen almost one million more followers since Tuesday and is up to more than 23 million followers. The President of the United States also set a Twitter record on Tuesday night, bating out Justin Bieber for the most-retweeted tweet in history.
The Washington Post notes that the sudden drop off in followers could support criticism that Mitt Romney was not as well-liked by his party’s base as previously thought. Those partisans who supported him for the election may be trying to find a new party leader to follow. In line with this, Florida Senator Marco Rubio has seen a modest jump in the number of likes on his page since the election.
The loss of Facebook “friends” has not affected lesser profile third-party candidates either. Both Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein saw a modest jump in Facebook followers. Stein also resumed posting on Thursday, saying:
“Our social movement is growing out but there’s no time for rest. Democracy doesn’t just happen on election day.”
In contrast, Miff Romney’s Facebook page has not been updated since Wednesday when his cover photo was changed to one of him waving goodbye after his concession speech. Romney’s Twitter account has remained silent as well, with the last tweet posted on Tuesday around 6 pm asking his followers to get out the vote.
Why do you think Mitt Romney is losing Facebook friends at an average rate of 847 per hour?
