With media outlets showing live tweets on-screen during the debates last night, the social media response to the event was huge. While the issues were discussed and tempers flared, the biggest reaction online wasn’t about either candidate. It was about Big Bird.
That’s right, Big Bird, the eight-foot tall avian star of the hit PBS show “Sesame Street.” When Mitt Romney was asked how he would trim the deficit, Romney threatened to shut down PBS, while apologizing to Big Bird. According to Twitter, the reaction was immediate — Big Bird was being mentioned at the astonishing rate of 17,000 tweets per minute.
An unofficial @FiredBigBird Twitter account quickly sprang up, and accumulated 25,000 followers before Twitter shut it down today. On Facebook, which just announced that they’ve hit a staggering one billion users, Big Bird’s fans were up in arms as well. A Facebook page, Big Bird for President, has already accumulated more than 7,000 likes.