By Alicia M. Cohn 

  

Kelly Clarkson, Eva Longoria, first lady Michelle Obama, members of Congress and about a million other Americans were tweeting about inauguration on Monday, when President Obama was officially sworn in for his second term at the Capitol.

 

Twitter’s official hashtag was #inauguration. The microblogging service set up an Event page to monitor tweets about the occasion. 

 

According to Twitter, there were 1.1 million tweets sent during the ceremony, which lasted just over an hour, referencing the inauguration, with the peek moment for tweets following the moment Obama said: "We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate."

 

Some of those tweets were clearly coming from the risers set up for VIPs at the Capitol. Many members of Congress tweeted comments and photos during the ceremony.

 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) both tweeted their view of the president.

 

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) mocked Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s “weird” hat, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) complimented the Marine Corps Band and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) snapped a photo of Beyoncé while the singer delivered the closing rendition of the National Anthem.

 

Clarkson, who sang “My country, ‘tis of thee” during the ceremony, tweeted her relief after finishing the song, and Michelle Obama personally tweeted that she felt “honored and blessed” that so many Americans attended the ceremony.

 

Commenting on the chilly weather in Washington, D.C., was actress Gabrielle Union — who also said it was “worth it” to be a “frozen fudge pop” — and Longoria, part of the inaugural committee, tweeted a photo of herself — also looking bundled up from the cold — on the platform.

 

The White House encouraged Twitter followers to share favorite quotes from Obama’s inauguration speech using the hashtag #inaugquote, but the hashtag never really got going, according to Topsy analytics.

 

The Presidential Inaugural Committee went on to live-tweet the parade following the swearing-in ceremony on Monday afternoon from @obamainaugural, while the Secret Service continued sharing updated security information about barricades and long lines at @secretservice.

 

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