Facebook less into Paul’s ’16 rollout than Cruz’s

When it comes to engaging people on Facebook, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has some work to do.

About 865,000 different people commented on, shared a note or otherwise engaged with the Kentucky lawmaker when he announced his campaign for the White House on Tuesday, according to Facebook. 

{mosads}In all, Paul’s announcement generated a total of 1.9 million interactions — both positive and negative — during the day.

By comparison, 2.2 million Facebook users talked about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) when he announced his campaign last month, generating a total of 5.7 million interactions.

The metrics are just one sign of how the candidates are being received, but offer a glimpse into the early state of play on social media, where battles in the 2016 election are likely to be waged like never before.

Paul’s inability to match Cruz is somewhat surprising, given that the Kentuckian has often stirred up support among young libertarians who are active on the Internet. On Tuesday, he also answered questions on Facebook in what seemed like an attempt to gin up that digital support. 

Paul made a concerted outreach to Silicon Valley in the months ahead of his Tuesday announcement, and will surely return to the tech mecca to try and drum up support. 

People in his home state of Kentucky were the most likely to be chatting about Paul on Tuesday, followed by those in neighboring West Virginia and the District of Columbia. New Hampshire — a critical early primary state — was fourth on the list.

In the week leading up to his announcement, Facebook users talked about Paul in relation to issues about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, the social network said. That chatter may have been linked to the backlash against an Indiana “religious freedom” law, which opponents said would give businesses a license to discriminate against LGBT businesses. Paul declined to weigh in on that legislation.

Facebook users also chatted about the senator in relation to foreign policy issues and matters of the Constitution.