Can you guess the top VP debate coverage?

[View Online]( ) What got attention from the VP debate? The thing with political debates is that a big part of them is the "post-game" analysis, with pundits falling over each other to crown defining moments and identify a winner. These don't always match up to public perception — for example the debate was a [statistical tie in snap polls](, despite many [declaring]( Vance the winner. That disconnect points to analyzing debates being difficult, so we thought it would be an interesting exercise to highlight which moments from the debate are actually getting the most attention in clips from news media. The easiest place to do this is on TikTok, where whole clips from the debate are being shared by various news organizations. Among the most engaging of these in the hours since the debate is a clip from the [Daily Mail of Tim Walz sharing]( that his son witnessed a shooting at a community center. The broadcaster, CBS News, also had some of its own videos perform well on the platform, with perhaps the biggest surprise being that V[ance's closing statement]( currently has more than twice the number of likes as [Walz's](. And what [many pundits]( saw as the big moment of the night — Vance equivocating on Trump losing the election in 2020 — is not among the most engaged coverage from broadcasters at time of writing, despite the Harris campaign already [cutting an ad with the video](. Beyond TikTok, [Elon Musk](, [Ben Shapiro](, and [Donald Trump Jr.]( were all supportive of JD Vance across X and Facebook, while [Grant Godwin's commentary]( on Instagram also captured attention. Walz received [encouragement from Barack Obama on Instagram](, while a post about Walz [going for pizza]( rather than to the spin room after the debate got a lot of attention on Reddit. All of this again proves that none of this is easy, and it's crucial to have a sense of what's resonating across the internet, and add insights to your instincts. How a well-meaning TikTok trend turned sour A "pay it forward" trend recently emerged on TikTok, [sparked by a video]( from DeNaesha Gonzalez, in which she came across an unpurchased purse left behind in the baby supplies aisle of Target. Gonzalez imagined a mother leaving it behind, unable to buy both the purse and essentials for her baby. She captioned the video, "She deserved the purse," and soon enough several [influencers from across the globe]( began hiding cash and gift vouchers inside baby products at their local stores in hopes of helping struggling moms. This resulted in a slew of videos of people partaking in the trend, but in the matter of just a few days, it's taken quite the negative turn. Confirming many people's concerns, [more videos have surfaced]( showing torn packaging of diapers, formula, and other baby products in stores as shoppers search for hidden cash. Additionally, men on the platform have fueled backlash by posting their own [counter videos]( with captions reading, "I deserve the purse." This has sparked more media coverage in the last couple of days as publishers report on [how the trend has backfired.]( However, general coverage of the trend didn't even pick up until Sept 23rd, over two weeks after Gonzalez's video first went viral. Target has now also been dragged into this conversation across various platforms, despite being nothing more than a location for the trend. This goes to show how important it is to monitor all of social media in order to understand how trends are resonating, and how they're making an impact. By the time traditional publishers caught on, the trend had already started to shift, and it was only really resonating where it had originally began — on TikTok. NEWSWHIP FOR CROWDTANGLE USERS Learn about how you can continue on the work you were doing in CrowdTangle [Read more]( FREE ELECTION DIGEST Receive a daily AI Digest of the biggest themes and topics in this year’s US elections [Sign up]( NEWSWHIP'S ROI CALCULATOR How our clients save almost $100,000 per year with our AI Digests, reports, and alerts [Read blog]( GOT A ZOMBIE CRISIS? HOW SOCIAL DATA CAN HELP In a recent SiLab roundtable, media insights leaders discussed how to manage recurring crises [Read article]( [Facebook (1).png]( [X (1).png]( [Linkedin (1).png]( Copyright (C) 2024 NewsWhip. All rights reserved. You're receiving this email because you opted in for the NewsWhip blog newsletter and updates. Our mailing address is: NewsWhip 42 Pearse Street Dublin, D02 YX88 Ireland Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [unsubscribe]( )