Shorten takes poll position in FB talk

On a day of decisions, social media made a resounding one: the opposition leader can't eat a sausage.

According to the Facebook statistics, the prime minister was the most mentioned party leader throughout the federal election campaign, but Bill Shorten claimed the top spot for most of polling day.

Across social media, election day sausages were big in online discussions, but Mr Shorten's decision to bite into the middle of his roll rather than start at the end had people it talking - it even received a mention on the UK's BBC and Telegraph websites.

Facebook found the main issues being discussed on the site were benefits and welfare, in contrast with the rest of the campaign, which was dominated by talk about the economy.

On Twitter, about 90,000 mentions of the election were tweeted after the polls opened on Saturday morning, with Mr Shorten receiving the most mentions.

But Malcolm Turnbull was still receiving the lion's share of Google searches.

Senate candidate Pauline Hanson was the most searched minor party leader, just ahead of Nick Xenophon.

POLLING DAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

FACEBOOK (0600 to 1800 AEST)

* Most discussed leaders:

1. Bill Shorten

2. Malcolm Turnbull

3. Pauline Hanson

4. Nick Xenophon

5. Barnaby Joyce

* Most discussed issues:

1. Benefits and welfare

2. Social issues

3. Economy

4. Budget

5. Environment

6. Foreign policy

7. Governance

8. Terrorism/surveillance

* Most discussed parties:

1. Liberal

2. Labor

3. Greens

4. Liberal National

5. Nationals

TWITTER(0600 to 1800)

* Mr Shorten was most mentioned on Twitter compared with Mr Turnbull

* Most tweeted words in connection with Mr Shorten:

- election

- sausage

- homeless

- eating

* Most tweeted words in connection with Mr Turnbull:

- election

- Abbott

- stability

- rocky

GOOGLE(0000 to 1900)

* Most searched leader:

1. Malcolm Turnbull

2. Bill Shorten

3. Pauline Hanson

4. Nick Xenophon

5. Derryn Hinch

* Most searched major parties:

1. Labor

2. Liberal

3. Greens

4. Nationals

SOURCE: Facebook, Trendsmap, Google Trends