How Huffington Post Dominated State of the Union Coverage on Facebook

The Huffington Post's social media mission: successful.

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In a new strategy, via Zombie Journalism, the site experimented with a different spin on covering the State of the Union via Facebook: it began with a status update directing readers to watch streaming video of President Obama's speech on Tuesday, following up with a series of posts that highlighted excerpts from the address.

As of Thursday, the Huffpo's live coverage snagged a whopping 33,962 "likes" on Facebook with 2,617 comments and 4,437 shares, adding up to major engagement on the social network, which was already swarmed with competing outlets' SOTU updates.

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This presidential quote on education was the most liked:

"Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn."

The SOTU, meanwhile, was watched by nearly 38 million people, down 13 percent compared to last year's address, which pulled in more than 42 million viewers.