Rubio trails other candidates on Facebook reaction

Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign kickoff on Monday didn’t make quite the splash on Facebook as earlier presidential campaign announcements.

His campaign launch generated 1.3 million interactions — which include likes, comments, shares and posts — from 695,000 people in the 24 hours surrounding his Monday evening announcement.

{mosads}That puts him behind Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who got bigger reactions on the social network when they announced.

Cruz elicited 5.5 million interactions and Paul garnered 1.9 million.

It’s also a small number compared to the 4.7 million people who generated 10.1 million interactions about Hillary Clinton’s announcement.

In the week leading up to the announcement, users were talking about immigration and foreign policy with respect to Rubio.

All of the 2016 candidates are likely to invest heavily in digital operations as they court younger voters and harness the organizing potential of social networks. But Rubio is also making his young age a part of his campaign, as he argues that a generational shift is needed in the White House.

“The time has come for our generation to lead the way toward a new American century,” he said when he announced his candidacy.