Twitter and the Australian Election 2010

TweetLevelThe Battle for Election 2010

Matthew Gain – Edelman Australia

Objectives

• Rank Australia’s politicians and staffers in terms of influence on Twitter

• Understand who is using the platform best

• Use as a tool to lobby for better use by politicians

Edelman 2012

Methodology

How it worksA unique tool created by Edelman TweetLevel measures an individ-ual's importance on Twitter.

What are the numbers?Each score is rated out of 100 – in other words, the higher your score, the more important you are. There are four result metrics:

Influence - what you say is interesting and many people listen to it. This is the primary ranking metric.Popularity - how many people follow youEngagement - you actively participate within your communityTrust - people believe what you say

Edelman 2012

Methodology

Edelman 2012

Topline results

More info at www.election.tweetlevel.com.au

Malcolm Turnbull

• Regular personal updates that connect with his community

• Engages in conversations:• Answers questions• Responds to criticism• Makes time for the platform• Definitely not a one way medium

Julia Gillard

• Despite a slow start started engaging last week

• Engaging conversations

• Providing additional information via links

• Responding to influentials ;-)

• RTing the AustralianLabor a lot to share the load

• Using a iPad for Tweets

The Greens

• Have secured 4 of the top ten positions

• Using staffers to spread their message further

• Smartly using aggregated accounts – eg Greens and GreensMPs

• Despite smaller numbers of followers making up for it with large amounts of updates and engagement

Tony Abbott

• Where have you been Tony?

• His follow vs follower count is indicative of how Tony is approaching Twitter

Has Twitter had an impact though?

Without a doubt. No newspaper article, TV debate or radio interview will singlehandedly swing the election. They all do generate influence, just like each tweet holds some influence.

If you would like more information go to:

Election.tweetlevel.com.au

Or contact @matthewgain