Are you interested in how web interactive social media is impacting the presidential election primary season?  The staff of ITSRG has completed a cursory examination of the candidates' use of Twitter.  Here is what we found as of 10:59 pm on Tuesday, April 8, 2008.

Fact: Barack Obama's official campaign has 21731 followers on Twitter.

Fact: Hillary Clinton's official campaign  has 2820 followers on Twitter.

John McCain's official campaign does not Twitter.

Fact: Barack Obama's official campaign follows 22042 on Twitter.

Fact: Hillary Clinton's official campaign does not follow anyone on Twitter.

John McCain's official campaign does not Twitter.

Facts: Barack Obama's Twitter feed receives nudges and messages, while Hillary Clinton's does not. John McCain's official campaign does not Twitter.

Facts: Barack Obama's official campaign began twittering on April 29, 2007. The site has been updated 96 times. Hillary Clinton's official campaign began twittering on January 13, 2008. Her Twitter feed has been updated 101 times.

ITSRG will be posting updated Twitter statistics through the Pennsylvania primaries for those of you who need to know!

Hillary's Twitter Feed
Barack's Twitter Feed
McCain doesn't Twitter.
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UPDATE 4-11-08, 9:38 am

Hillary Clinton - Followers: 2901, Following: 0, Updates: 106
Barack Obama - Followers: 22560, Following: 22794, Updates: 97
McCain doesn't Twitter.
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UPDATE 4-13-08: 11:11 am

Hillary Clinton - Followers:  2924, Following: 0, Updates: 107
Barack Obama - Followers:  22791, Following: 22924, Updates: 97

Hillary 5-day increase: Plus 104 followers, following plus 0, plus 6 updates
Obama 5-day increase: Following plus 882 , followers plus 970, plus 1 update
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UPDATE 4-22-08: 7:28 pm
Hillary Clinton - Followers:  3175, Following: 0, Updates: 123
Barack Obama - Followers:   24903, Following: 25042, Updates: 106

Hillary 9-day increase: Plus 251 followers, following plus 0, plus 16 updates
Obama 9-day increase: Plus 2112  followers, following plus 2118, plus 9 updates
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UPDATE 5-5-08

Barack Obama is following 28,808 people on Twitter.  He has 28,363 followers. Barack Obama has updated 113 times.  Hillary Clinton  is not following anyone. She now has 3,680 followers. She has updated her feed 137 times.  John McCain does not have an official Twitter feed.
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UPDATE 5-22-08

Barak Obama continues his lead in the Twitter wars. He is Following 33,320 and has 32,461 followers. Hillary Clinton has 3,987 followers. John McCain is not using Twitter.  We'll be sharing our thoughts on how Twitter is being used by the candidates soon. 
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UPDATE 6-4-08

Obama: Following = 36430; Followers = 35,390, Updates = 129
Clinton: Followers = 4,195; Updates = 173
McCain: Still does not Twitter

Caroline Guigar and Michele Masucci
Temple University

Posts began April 8, 2008; Final Tally posted 6/04/08.

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