Wednesday night's debate saw 10.3 million tweets, setting a new political record on Twitter. But what were Twitter users actually tweeting about?
Of the more than 12.9 million opinions examined for Mashable by social media analysis firm Crimson Hexagon, about half were an analysis of the candidates' performance, while the other half were reactions to the debate discourse itself.
What did Twitter users make of the candidates? Twenty-six percent of tweets criticized Barack Obama for "looking rusty," as Crimson Hexagon put it, while 16% were in support of the president. Conversely, 22% said that Mitt Romney was "on his game," while 12% disagreed with the Republican candidate.
During the debate, Jim Lehrer, the moderator, was lambasted by many Twitter users for his failure to keep the candidates under control -- 11% of debate tweets were critical of Lehrer's performance.
And, as always happens during a major event, the snark did flow: Fourteen percent of tweets were a joke about some aspect of the debate, such as Romney's Big Bird quip.
Tweets during an event and those that come after a good night's sleep are often different. So how has the conversation changed since Wednesday night?
Tweets about the candidates' overall performance has dropped off 17%, replaced primarily by reactions to the content of the debate. According to Crimson Hexagon, there's been a 12% drop in tweets about Obama's performance (considered less-than-stellar by many observers) and a 17% pickup in tweets critical of Romney's answers.
For more, check out Crimson Hexagon's analysis:
Were you tweeting during the debate last night?