Scotland’s top 100 Tweeters are revealed today in a survey undertaken by HeraldScotland.
We’ve analysed Twitter accounts across 10 key Scottish sectors and found the most popular 10 individuals in each.
Three pass the million mark in terms of followers: Pete Cashmore, 26, the founder of the Mashable social media news blog; US TV host Craig Ferguson; and JK Rowling. They are closely followed by Andy Murray and Gordon Ramsay, who each boast more than 900,000 followers.
All enjoy global exposure which undoubtedly boosts their popularity on Twitter. The online networking site now has more than 500 million accounts globally, six years after launch.
But elsewhere, because our research compares different types of Scottish Tweeters – in business, broadcasting, literature, sport, food and drink, comedy, music, acting, fashion, and politics – the findings offer a fascinating insight into what is arguably today’s most powerful social medium.
The most followed Scottish Tweeters by sector are:
Business: Pete Cashmore (2,931,558 followers) Read Business Top 10
Broadcasting: Craig Ferguson (1,288,229) Read Broadcasting Top 10
Literature: JK Rowling (1,287,687) Read Literature Top 10
Sport: Andy Murray (982,419) Read Sport Top 10
Food and drink: Gordon Ramsay (925,213) Read Food and Drink Top 10
Comedy: Frankie Boyle (774,744) Read Comedy Top 10
Music: Paolo Nutini (157,320) Read Music Top 10
Acting: Karen Gillan (126,694) Read Acting top 10
Fashion: Stacey Duguid (23,838) Read Fashion Top 10
Politics: Alex Salmond (23,167) Read Politics Top 10
We’ve listed (but not ranked ) them by number of followers, knowing that’s only one measure of popularity.
Other factors to take into account in assessing Twitter “influence” include how many other Tweeters each of our 100 has, in turn, followed to build their audience: the bigger the ratio of followers to following, the more impressive the performance.
And how many Tweets they’ve each put out there: fewer can suggest each word is like gold dust to fans (see JK Rowling), while more indicates greater interactivity with followers.
Any analysis of a fluid medium like Twitter can be challenged. We’d like to hear your views – about any omissions, suggested inclusions, or even the worth of Twitter itself – using the comments box below.
We’ll be updating our Scottish list later this year and you can help shape it. And with us, you’re not limited to 140 characters!
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article