Stuart Brotman

Social media chatter during this week’s first presidential debate was more negative toward Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton.

Social media users showed little interest in talk about NATO but much interest in talk about fighting ISIS. They called for #factcheck most frequently on the topics of birtherism, Iraq War and tax returns.

Those were among the main takeaways reported by The Political Social Media Group, led by Stuart N. Brotman, Howard Distinguished Endowed Professor of Media Management and Law and Beaman Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The research team is composed of students enrolled in Brotman’s graduate political communication seminar. The students used sophisticated social media monitoring software to analyze public sentiment during the Sept. 26 presidential debate.