Waking up from a long winter’s nap, here in the cozy confines of the e.politics bunker.
Check out last week’s top 10 over-performing Facebook posts from the 2016 presidential campaigns! The data is via our friends at CrowdTangle, and remember that these aren’t the top-performing posts in ABSOLUTE terms, since that would almost always be dominated by the pages with the biggest followings. Instead, these are posts that beat the average for that particular page — posts that reset the bar for success for that campaign on Facebook. If you like this list, check our our weekly Top Ten Facebook Advocacy Posts, also compiled with CrowdTangle data.
A special note to our readers-via-email: be sure to click through to the online version of this article to see the embedded posts. It’s well worth your time.
1. Marco Rubio (14.3x)
I said Hillary was disqualified from the presidency last week. And now, even more evidence has turned up:
Posted by Marco Rubio on Tuesday, January 19, 2016
2. Dr. Ben Carson (12.3x)
Liberal progressives in Ohio have filed a lawsuit attempting to remove "In God We Trust" from our nation's currency. I…
Posted by Dr. Ben Carson on Monday, January 18, 2016
3. Marco Rubio (11.8x)
I am pro-life. I am proud to be pro-life, and I will never change my position on that issue.
Posted by Marco Rubio on Thursday, January 21, 2016
4. Ted Cruz (9.5x)
Heidi and I are lifting up in prayer the Dr. Ben Carson staffers injured in a car accident in Iowa. "By His stripes, we are healed." Isaiah 53:5.
Posted by Ted Cruz on Tuesday, January 19, 2016
5. Mike Huckabee (9.5x)
"Huckabee said that the first thing he would do when he walked into the Oval Office as president is 'get down on my…
Posted by Mike Huckabee on Wednesday, January 20, 2016
6. Rand Paul (9.5x)
I hope you'll join me and my father, Ron Paul on the campaign trail!
Posted by Rand Paul on Thursday, January 21, 2016
7. Rand Paul (9.2x)
Posted by Rand Paul on Wednesday, January 20, 2016
8. Dr. Ben Carson (8.9x)
Change your profile picture to you holding a "In God We Trust" sign if you believe God should remain a core principle of our nation.
Posted by Dr. Ben Carson on Tuesday, January 19, 2016
9. Bernie Sanders (7.1x)
I don't get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. #DemDebate
Posted by Bernie Sanders on Sunday, January 17, 2016
10. Carly Fiorina (6.0x)
Watch Carly destroy Hillary in just 31 seconds……and imagine what she could do going head-to-head with her on the debate stage this fall. Want to see that fight? Let’s make Carly our nominee.
Posted by Carly Fiorina on Monday, January 18, 2016
Explanation of the Scoring
These posts don’t represent the most-viewed pieces of content on Facebook (since that would almost entirely end up being dominated by the same small handful of large-audience Pages over and over). Instead, we list the posts that performed the best (using shares as the primary metric) against the organization Page’s OWN average (hence the word “over-performing”). To build the list, we CrowdTangle’s tracking system, which generates an average rate of growth for Pages over time (with at least 50 data points before a Page is scored). So, the "x" numbers listed above specifically represent how many more multiples of shares each post received compared with what the Page’s posts normally get. Note that we set a minimum bar of total engagement of around 500 shares or so.
About CrowdTangle
CrowdTangle is a new tool that helps organizations easily keep track of what’s being shared on Facebook. Organizations can use it to find shareable content around their own issue area or to keep track of what affiliated Pages are posting on a regular basis. Launched in late January, the beta version of the tool is already being used by dozens of leading organizations across the country. If you want to see how it works, watch this short video: http://www.screenr.com/Iv1H
– cpd
White House photo by Daniel Schwen, via Wikimedia Commons.
