The race for political influence on social networks registers new movements just a few days before the United States midterm elections next November 3. Democratic senator Bernie Sanders has managed to enter the international top 10 of Poder Digital, displacing the U.S. vice president, JD Vance, to eleventh place. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump remains among the leaders with the greatest digital presence in the world, although behind the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The latest update of the ranking, corresponding to October 28 at 18:50 hours, places Sanders at 68 points out of 100, compared with Vance's 67.8. The difference of just two-tenths has been enough to provoke an exchange of positions between both leaders: the senator from Vermont rises from eleventh to tenth place, while Trump's vice president makes the opposite journey.
The movement occurs in the final stretch of the U.S. midterms, a contest that will determine the balance of power in Congress and condition the Trump Administration's ability to develop its agenda during the second half of the term. The evolution also makes it possible to observe how digital influence is distributed among different international political figures, although the scores do not represent percentages of vote intention nor do they allow electoral results to be anticipated.
Bernie Sanders surpasses JD Vance and enters the top 10 of Poder Digital
The main change in the international ranking has as its protagonists Bernie Sanders and JD Vance, two U.S. leaders with very different political trajectories, institutional responsibilities, and ideological positions.
Sanders, independent senator for Vermont and one of the most recognized figures in the U.S. progressive space, reaches 68 points and is placed tenth in the international ranking. Vice President Vance, one of the main representatives of the political movement linked to Donald Trump, registers 67.8 points and falls to eleventh place.
The difference between the two is minimal, but enough to modify the order of the top ten positions. Sanders gains one position and Vance loses another, a movement that reflects that the institutional relevance of an office does not necessarily determine its position in the digital sphere.
In fact, occupying the vice presidency of the United States does not guarantee better results than a senator in a tool that measures activity on social networks, the ability to generate interactions, and the regularity of posts. The indicator does not establish a ranking of institutional political power, but rather a comparison of the presence and digital connection capacity of the profiles analyzed.
There is, moreover, an important nuance in the interpretation of the results. Sanders's rise does not mean that he has gained a point in his score, but rather that he has improved a position compared with the previous measurement. Likewise, Vance's setback corresponds to a place in the ranking, not necessarily to a loss of a point in the index.
The available data make it possible to confirm the exchange between both leaders, but not to determine how much each one's individual score has exactly varied with respect to the previous update.
Donald Trump occupies third place worldwide, behind Modi and Lula
Beyond Sanders's overtaking of Vance, Donald Trump continues among the three leaders with the highest score in the international Digital Power ranking. The U.S. president registers 80.1 points out of 100, a figure that places him behind Narendra Modi and Lula da Silva.
The Prime Minister of India leads the ranking with 87.6 points, which means a lead of 7.5 over the U.S. president. His position keeps him as the leader with the highest score among the international profiles analyzed.
In second position is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with 80.9 points, just eight tenths above Trump. The distance between the two is considerably smaller than the one that separates them from first place, which reflects a greater closeness in the scores of the second and third positions.
After them appear the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, with 74.5 points, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, with 73.6. Sixth place corresponds to the president of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, with 72.7 points, while the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reaches 70.3.
The president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, occupies eighth place with 70.2 points, just one tenth behind Erdoğan. The Colombian leader, Gustavo Petro, is ninth with 69.7, while Bernie Sanders closes the group of the top ten ranked with 68.
This is how the international top 10 of Poder Digital stands
| Position | Leader | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Narendra Modi | 87,6 |
| 2 | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | 80,9 |
| 3 | Donald Trump | 80,1 |
| 4 | Giorgia Meloni | 74,5 |
| 5 | Emmanuel Macron | 73,6 |
| 6 | Prabowo Subianto | 72,7 |
| 7 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan | 70,3 |
| 8 | Pedro Sánchez | 70,2 |
| 9 | Gustavo Petro | 69,7 |
| 10 | Bernie Sanders | 68,0 |
The comparison shows important differences between the top positions. Modi maintains a wide advantage over his pursuers, while Lula and Trump present much closer results. At the end of the ranking, the distances are also small: only 2.5 points separate Erdoğan, seventh, from Sanders, tenth.
These differences make it possible to identify the leaders who obtain the highest scores in the indicator, but they do not constitute a ranking of electoral popularity or political support among citizens.
The November 3 midterms put Trump's control over Congress to the test
The update comes at a particularly relevant moment for American politics. The United States will hold its midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, in which citizens will elect the 435 voting members of the House of Representatives and renew 35 Senate seats, including those corresponding to two special elections.
The results will determine the composition of Congress during the last two years of Donald Trump's term. Although the president and vice president do not directly stand for election in these contests, the result can significantly alter their ability to push laws, negotiate budgets, and secure approval for certain initiatives.
An eventual loss of the Republican majority in either chamber could increase the legislative difficulties of the Trump Administration and strengthen the Democrats' oversight powers. Conversely, maintaining both majorities would allow Republicans to retain a favorable parliamentary position to carry out much of their political agenda.
In this context, digital communication becomes a relevant instrument for spreading proposals, mobilizing supporters, and competing for public attention, even for leaders who are not candidates in the elections.
It is the case of Trump himself, of his vice president JD Vance and of Senator Bernie Sanders, whose messages can help shape the national political conversation without their positions being directly at stake in the November 3 polls.
However, the Power Digital photograph does not show a uniform behavior among American figures. Trump occupies third place worldwide, Sanders manages to enter among the top ten and Vance loses one position, despite the proximity of an electoral event of great importance for the three.
Pedro Sánchez, eighth in international digital influence before 29N
The presence of Pedro Sánchez among the top ten international positions also introduces a relevant element for Spanish politics. The President of the Government ranks eighth in the classification, with 70.2 points, when less than four weeks remain before the general elections of November 29.
His position allows him to be placed among the leaders included in the upper part of the international indicator, alongside heads of government such as Trump, Lula, Meloni, Macron or Erdoğan. However, the eighth place alone does not show that the Spanish pre-campaign has caused an increase in his digital activity or influence.
The tool collects data corresponding to a broader period than a specific day, so to establish an evolution it would be necessary to compare measurements made with the same methodology and within the same panel.
This distinction becomes especially important because Sánchez's 70.2 points in the international ranking do not match the 94.5 that he records in the Spanish electoral panel of Power Digital published by Demócrata.
Although both figures appear linked to the same tool, they belong to different classifications. Without a specific methodological explanation that would allow establishing their equivalence, it would not be correct to compare them directly or calculate a rise or a fall from their differences.
Consequently, the verifiable data of this update is that Sánchez occupies the eighth international position, but not that he has lost or gained influence with respect to his score in the Spanish classification.
What is Power Digital and how is the influence of political leaders calculated
Poder Digital is a technological tool developed by Vinces whose data Demócrata publishes within the framework of a strategic alliance. Its objective is to analyze and compare the capacity of political leaders, institutions and other public actors to generate conversation and connect with their communities on the main digital platforms.
The application uses an indicator of 0 to 100 points, developed from public information from four social networks: X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.
The methodology is based on the so-called RIO formula, which incorporates three fundamental components:
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Regularity: analyzes the consistency with which a profile publishes content and maintains its active presence.
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Interactions: measures the response generated by publications and user participation.
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Originality: values original content, the contribution of information and the ability to open conversations.
The system studies up to 30 publications from the last 60 days and updates its ranking weekly. In this way, the score does not depend solely on a viral message or on the activity recorded during a day, but rather incorporates information about a broader period.
The methodology also contemplates adjustments to reduce the distortions that can be caused by occasional spikes in virality and considers the presence of the leaders on the different platforms analyzed.
Therefore, an account with millions of followers does not necessarily have to obtain a higher score than another with a smaller community, since the frequency of publication, interactions and production of original content also influence.
Why entering the top 10 of Poder Digital does not mean having more electoral support
The entry of Bernie Sanders among the top ten classified and the departure of JD Vance offer a concrete reference about his digital position before the U.S. elections. However, this movement does not allow us to conclude that Sanders has gained electoral popularity or that Vance has lost support among voters.
The interactions recorded by a publication can respond to different reasons. Some users may share a message because they agree with its content, while others may do so to criticize it, debate it or express opposing positions. The amount of activity generated does not necessarily determine the meaning of those reactions.
Likewise, the indicator scores also do not allow us to anticipate which party will obtain the majority in the United States Congress. To assess electoral preferences, it is necessary to resort to other instruments, such as representative polls and, ultimately, the official election results.
The temporal window of Poder Digital also requires interpreting the positions with perspective. The October 28 update incorporates activity from previous weeks, so not all the changes observed can be attributed to the latest events of the campaign.
The next ranking cutoff will make it possible to check whether Sanders maintains his position among the top ten leaders or whether Vance regains the place lost after the midterms. It will also make it possible to observe the evolution of Trump and the rest of the international leaders in a political context that could experience important changes after the elections.
For now, Poder Digital's international snapshot leaves three outstanding facts: Narendra Modi leads with 87.6 points, Donald Trump occupies third place with 80.1 and Bernie Sanders surpasses JD Vance by just two tenths, snatching the last position in the top 10 from him just days before the United States goes back to the polls.