The biggest story to hit the internet regarding politics this week is Barack Obama’s open support of same-sex marriage. Obama’s announcement came after the state of North Carolina voted to approve a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. While this story is thought to have a potential impact on voters in swing states, it can have an even more dramatic influence on the state of the presidential candidate’s internet market share.

While I’ve previously touched base on Barack Obama’s social media prowess, I haven’t gotten into specifics. Barack Obama’s social media status is paramount to his internet marketing campaign and is one of a few reasons he carries the majority of the internet market share on the SIPP Index. Since Twitter and Facebook are the biggest social media platforms, we’ll examine the breadth of each presidential candidate’s influence on each site.

After his daughter’s hospitalization, Rick Santorum dropped from the race to spend time with her. Santorum was second in the GOP SIPP Index, so it is clear that his decision to drop from the race isn’t a representation of a weakness in his campaign so much as it is due to circumstance.

Romney stepped his game up on the SIPP Index for the past week kicking his position up from second place to first place, passing Rick Santorum. With the SIPP Index getting tighter, the candidates’ performances over the next couple weeks could lend some insight into the final results of the race for the Republican candidacy.

The new SIPP Index is up for this week and we have a new frontrunner. Rick Santorum took top spot on the SIPP Index for the first time and Newt fell to a decisive last place. The SIPP Index experienced a lot of movement this week and each candidate made the news in one way or another.