The democratic role of social media in political debates: The use of Twitter in the first televised US presidential debate of 2016

Live social media commentary increasingly accompanies televised political debates. This study examines the democratic role of live Twitter commentary by analyzing a sample of tweets published during the first 2016 presidential debate between Trump and Clinton. The practices of live commenters–including joke-sharing and fact-checking–are assessed in light of six perspectives on the democratic utility of such commentary. Results show that while Twitter commentary was predominantly humorous and driven by negativity towards the candidates, a sizeable proportion of users actively engaged in practices of alternative interpretation, critique, and correction, seeking democratic accountability.