We looked at social media mentions of the status of Puerto Rico before the elections and found that, of the three status options most often discussed, statehood was the most prominent.
Has the election changed things?
Yes, in several ways.
First, there are more speakers in the conversation. When we looked in mid-October, it was impossible to find a series of five tweets on Puerto Rico’s statehood without repetition: influencers (people who frequently mention a particular subject) like Kenneth McClintock invariably showed up more than once. Now, dozens of different speakers show up in a Twitter search for “Puerto Rico Statehood.” (Click screenshots to see larger.)
Topsy shows 73 tweets since the election, including one comment that was retweeted 27 times.
What is the Twittersphere saying?
First, in a trend that began in the days leading up to the election, people are tweeting to their representatives and to media outlets demanding action:
Some individuals tweeted dozens of the same tweet, targeted to multiple congressional representatives or other political leaders. Favorites include @GOP (the Republican National Committee), @HillaryClinton, and @BarackObama.
Some statehood supporters were dismayed by the elections:
We didn’t find any commonwealth party celebrations, nor any responses to the demands for information about the government’s intentions. However, at least one tweet favoring independence for Puerto Rico got a lot of traction:
If social listening is any indication, it appears that Puerto Rico’s status is on people’s minds, and that discussion is evolving and growing.
