State Of The Union Address Sees Over 1.36m Tweets

Last night was a big night for government and the entire US. President Obama gave the annual State of the Union address, where he lays out what condition the country is in, and suggest plans and goals for the future. The House chamber was buzzing last night, but so was Twitter, with over 1.36 million tweets that referenced the speech.Twitter notes some of the most talked-about key points of the speech, saying that the number of tweets per minute topped out at 24,000 when President Obama discussed middle class opportunities and raising the minimum wage. During Obama's discussion of gun violence and the need for legislation, Twitter roared in at 23,700 tweets per minute, and 19,000 tweets per minute when he talked about early childhood education.

However, the night's moment that was perhaps the most interesting on Twitter — but only getting 9,200 tweets per minute — was during Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's Republican response speech, where he awkwardly reached over for his water and took a quick sip in the middle of his speech. The hashtag "#watergate" quickly bumped up to trending status and Rubio himself even poked fun at the moment.

During President Obama's State of the Union address, he also gave a quick shout out to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who announced late last year that Apple would be manufacturing some Mac computers in the US again. Cook ended up sitting in the First Lady's box during the address, which is usually reserved for guests that get mentioned the President's speech.