SDL Social Media Analysis Shows Biden Winning in Seven Swing States

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON--(Marketwire - Oct 15, 2012) - SDL (SDL.L) the leader in Global Information Management today released the second social media analysis of the presidential debates. The report shows Vice President Joe Biden as the winner in seven out of eight swing states, losing narrowly only in Virginia. Results show Biden did much better in the second hour of tracking which included the last half hour of the debate and thirty minutes of post-debate discussion.

The poll covers online postings from over 70 sources including major social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, as well as comments for leading political blogs in eight swing states including New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Colorado and Nevada. In the two most critical swing states, Biden came out ahead with a slight -1.0 to -1.4 advantage in Ohio and a more significant -0.2 to -2.8 advantage in Florida. The results for this debate and the other subsequent debates as well as SDL''s daily tracking poll can be viewed at http://www.sdl.com/campaign/si/presidential-report.html.

Perhaps the most significant finding from the poll was the steep drop off for Congressman Ryan in the second hour of tracking. Specifically while Vice President Biden''s scores remained very even from one hour to the next, Ryan''s sentiment score fell off more than 10 percent in the second hour that included the last thirty minutes of the debate. During this time, the Republican was asked to clarify his position on the highly sensitive issue of abortion. New Hampshire in particular showed a steep drop as Ryan''s sentiment score went from +2.6 in the first hour to -15.4 in the second hour of tracking.

Sentiment score is attained by subtracting negative postings on a given candidate from positive postings, and dividing by the total number of posts and multiplying by 100. For instance if the Vice President had 5000 positive postings in Virginia along with 4000 negative postings, he would have had a sentiment score of +11.1 {(5000 - 4000) /9000} x 100. Online tracking polls have gained credibility as almost four out of five Americans are now using the Internet.

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SDL is a public company on the London stock exchange. SDL enables global businesses to engage with their customers in the language, the media and at the moment they choose. We help businesses manage their brands, drive global revenues, accelerate speed to market and enrich their customers'' experience. SDL''s enterprise-ready innovative technology and service solutions span the entire customer journey and include social listening and marketing analytics, campaign management, and web content management. SDL solutions drive global reach across multiple languages, cultures, channels and media. SDL has over 1,500 enterprise customers, 400 partners and a global infrastructure of 70 offices in 38 countries. For more information, visit www.sdl.com.