Comment: People's Forum dominated by the economy

For a medium that's much-maligned for being frivolous, non-representative and tribal, the people of Twitter seem to care a great deal about real-world political issues, observes John Elliott.

Kevin Rudd speaks at the People's Forum in Brisbane. (AAP)

Last night's People's Forum with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott once again caused a frenzy of activity on social media. The number of tweets in the hour of the debate was up 800 per cent over the same period in the previous evening.

Let's take a look at the Twitter activity during the debate to gain some insight on subjects that are important to the Australian electorate.

Much as it did in the National Press Club Leaders' Debate, discussion about the economy dominated last night's proceedings. It was the most tweeted subject area for the first 38 minutes of the People's Forum.

A member of the selected audience of 100 asked a question about Australia's obligations under the UN Refugee Convention in the 38th minute. This led to the subject of immigration overtaking the economy as the most tweeted topic. The subject also resurfaced again following a question about 457 visas in the 47th minute. A question about the environment in the 42nd minute led to a sustained rise in related tweets.

Shortly before the concluding speeches the subject of same-sex marriage came up. In a similar pattern to the previous debate, there was a last minute spike in tweets about same-sex marriage. But while this was enough for the subject to become the most tweeted subject in the closing stages, it didn't match the levels seen in the first debate.

Approximately half of the total tweets during the People's Forum related to the economy. Given the importance of this subject, the chart breaks down the types of economic subjects discussed on Twitter during the debate.

The first question put to Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott was about cuts in public services. This led to extensive discussion - both within the debate and on Twitter - about Tony Abbott's budgetary plans.

Discussion about the budget subsided when a question about car industry aid packages came up on the 18th minute. Budget discussion increased following more debate about funding for Mr Abbott's paid parental leave from the 23rd minute. This also boosted the discussion about tax as Mr Abbott was quizzed about the proportion of his paid parent leave scheme funded through a company levy.

Around the 35th minute of the debate, the discussion turned to employment, which remained the key economic subject for approximately ten minutes. In the closing stages of the debate, other subjects took precedence over the economy.

John Elliott is a freelance data-driven writer originally from Scotland but now based in Brisbane.