Reddit is fond of him, too, so much so that he got on to let posters interview him. And his answers said stuff. Not just a careful string of words that, in the end, turn out not to actually have said anything.

Remember when Romney did that? I guess someone's advisors have a pretty simplistic and uninformed idea of how social media works - we can see behind the curtain now - it is on the internet.

https://www.twitteraudit.com/hillaryclinton

Last edited Thu Aug 13, 2015, 07:34 PM - Edit history (1)

Intended facetiously, I was about to delete this, realising that the Bush, here,was Jebediah and not George, and the Clinton, Hillary and not Bill (though, of course, Hillary' smart in her own right), when I received an obviously erroneous message that it had not been posted,

(and that early a.m. thread got buried in the massive number of threads there - would appreciate some likes on it to make sure the DU-ers who would never come to the Bernie group get it rubbed in their smug faces!)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251512754

Meanwhile, Sanders excels beyond the realm of likes and followers. The self-stated democratic socialist consistently has the highest level engagement on his individual Facebook posts, meaning he has people liking his messages, sharing his thoughts, commenting on his plans.

Sanders’ popularity on the internet is a further example of his success with young people – a key demographic given the increasing voter turnout among 18-to-29-year-olds in recent years.

Around 50% of young people voted in 2012. In the 1990s the youth turnout was regularly less than 40%, according to Politico. A study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement found that the youth voting bloc made the difference in four swing states – Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida – counting for 80 electoral college votes.

Though young people #FeelTheBern online, Sanders’ popularity extends far beyond social media. In Bushwick, the beating heart of New York City hipsterdom, Sanders watch parties have been packed out with beards and Vans and tattoos. In Portland, a city with a similar vibe but more rain, it’s a similar story.

You can buy T-shirts with the message “Bernie is Bae”. There are rappers coming out in support of the Sanders campaign. In July supporters nationwide held over 3,000 viewing parties to watch a live Sanders webcast.

In a final indicator of Sanders’ unique appeal, around five weeks ago the hashtag #babesforbernie began to appear on Instagram. Women, mostly young women, were using it to tag their own photos. They tagged themselves with signs, they tagged themselves with T-shirts, they even tagged themselves with Sanders.

It’s not a definitive indicator, but it’s another sign that Sanders is the social media, young people’s candidate of choice. There is, after all, no #babesforbush.

I'm at the point of trashing the GD-Primary myself. Do love the reporting by the UK Guardian though!