David Cameron mentioned in 6.2m of the 35m general election posts on Facebook
David Cameron is the most discussed UK political leader on Facebook, garnering 6.2 million mentions in a three-month engagement measurement period, according to data from the social network.
In the 13 weeks between 1 January and 7 May, Facebook oversaw 35 million general election-related interactions, from 6.6 million users.
Ukip is the most mentioned party on the website, generating 9.7 million mentions in the period - although it is worth noting there was no metric measuring the sentiment of the discussions. The Conservative Party followed boasting 8.2 million interactions.
Labour generated 6.6 million, whereas both the SNP and the Liberal Democrats saw 1.3 million interactions.
Following the televised debate between the seven major political parties hosted by ITV, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon saw the biggest surge in mentions, more than doubling her social media engagement in the following six days.
Ukip leader Nigel Farage followed with an engagement increase of over a quarter, meanwhile Nick Clegg saw a 23.4 per cent increase.
Elizabeth Linder, Facebook’s politics and government specialist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “As 7 May approaches we’re seeing the conversational election on Facebook get louder. Our data reveals huge discussions around parties and their leaders.
“We’ve seen previously that conversation on Facebook can positively impact voter turnout, and we hope that activity on Facebook from all parties has helped raise awareness of the key issues among UK voters.”
On party likes, the Conservatives lead the way on Facebook, with 376,780. Ukip followed with 365,600, surpassing Labour (233,556), the SNP (191,576) and the Liberal Democrats (108,161).
On leader likes, David Cameron had 514,541. Nigel Farage was second with 165,295, followed by Nicola Sturgeon (152,957), Ed Miliband (88,352), Nick Clegg (85,359) and Natalie Bennett (15,132).