New Yorkers love a good pander, and candidates at Thursday’s Democratic debate in Brooklyn didn’t disappoint. “I love being in Brooklyn,” exclaimed Hillary Clinton with a broad smile, “it’s great!” The crowd of supporters inside the auditorium erupted in applause, reporters in the filing center smirked and updated Twitter with snarky missives, and even Clinton’s Brooklyn-born rival Bernie Sanders grinned.

The venue selection was intentional. Brooklyn is known as ‘History’s Hometown,’ The Brooklyn Navy Yard helped springboard industrial America, and is now houses new media and entertainment companies. NYU Polytech is nearby, and the neighborhood of DUMBO, blocks from the CNN debate stage, was home to Makerbot and Etsy, and is known by locals as the Brooklyn Tech Triangle.

Technology is way of life for America, and the world, and was the subtext of debate issues ranging from the economy, to renewable energy, to foreign policy. Here the the top TechRepublic social media updates from the debate.

Through the 2016 campaign cycle TechRepublic is reporting on big data, social media, cyber security, and tech policy issues. If you’re a data scientist, social media professional, or inquisitive TechRepublic reader we’d love your ideas on how to inspect campaign social media data. Please leave a comment below or ping us on Twitter @TechRepublic.

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