When you think of a tech-savvy, engaging, social medial juggernaut, do you think Alberta Liberals?
Well, you should. A study conducted by Hill+Knowlton earlier this month, named the Alberta Liberals as the Alberta political party with the most influence on Twitter today.
The H+K study, which was conducted between Oct. 12 and 16, gave the Liberals a score of 98 out of 100.
But the Wildrose was not far behind with a score of 97.8. Meanwhile, the NDP was given a score of 92.9 and the reigning PCs got an 85.6.
H+K explains the numbers were calculated using “Klout scores, total number of Twitter followers and number of tweets per day. Scores across all three categories combined and averaged to come up with an overall influence ranking on a 0-100 scale,” the report states.
But the influencers were broken down further to include the top 10 MLAs and the top 10 journalists.
The PCs may have ended up at the bottom as a party but their leader is sitting right at the top, with a score of 97.9 given to Premier Alison Redford.
The Wildrose claimed second spot as a party and claim second spot in the MLAs list as well, with Opposition Leader Danielle Smith getting a score of 90.5.
Number three is reserved for another Tory, with Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk getting score of 86.9.
See the complete MLA list below. STORY CONTINUES AFTER SLIDESHOW..
Alberta Politics Influencers
And the Liberals may be on to something in their quest, whether intentional or otherwise, to gain influence in that particular corner of cyber space.
If anyone who follows politics doesn’t see the influence of a well-executed Twitter campaign, they’ve probably been using rabbit ears, unable to hear all the chirping.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi’s successful election bid two years ago was widely touted, locally and nationally, as the perfect showcase of social media and Twitter as a message delivery platform.
The social media network was almost as influential during the last provincial election, when controversial thoughts and ideas shared by unbridled Wildrose Party members sent the Twittersphere into a spin. The online movement was partially responsible for what is by all accounts the surprise majority win by the Alberta Tories.
No need to look too much farther abroad to see another example of the Twitter effect. The underdog the last time he went to the polls, President Barack Obama, who currently has 21.3 million followers on the social networking site, also relied heavily on social media as part of his larger campaign strategy.
The H+K study also went on to name the top 10 political media influencers in Alberta, with top props going to the Edmonton Journal’s Paula Simons, who received the highest score in the survey – 99.2.
The top three in the media list were rounded out by Global’s Vassy Kapelos, with a score of 97.8, and blogger Dave Cournoyer, who received a score of 97.
See the complete media list below.
