Graham Linehan most important celebrity Irish twitterer: Edelman


11 Jan 2010

Father Ted writer Graham Linehan is the most important celebrity Irish twitterer, according to TweetLevel, a new measurement tool from Edelman that calculates the importance of individuals on Twitter.

According to the PR agency, TweetLevel uses an algorithm that takes account of the quality and quantity of someone’s tweets, how engaged and trusted they are, as well as their popularity.

Linehan topped the list with 73 points, and was followed by DJs Rick O’Shea (65) and Dave Moore (63), journalist Mark Little (59) and Westlife’s Nicky Byrne (59).

The all-male Top-10 list also includes Byrne’s band mate Mark Feehily (53), ‘Newstalk’’s Sean Moncrieff (51), comedians Dermot Whelan (49) and Des Bishop (45) and DJ Ray Foley (45).

“While Twitter may seem trivial at times to some people, it is important to recognise how it is changing the way we communicate,” said Mark Cahalane, managing director, Edelman. “ Just look at how Barack Obama used it as part of his election campaign last year.  With over 3 million followers, his team was able to drive conversation in the run-up to his election success.

“It is also interesting to see how celebrities are using Twitter to reach out to fans and engage with them.  Their rank isn’t simply based on the number of followers they have, but also their level of interaction and the quality of what they have to say. Brands can learn from how celebrities are using Twitter and realise that if they want to influence people, they need to engage in an open and ongoing dialogue with consumers online.”

Individuals can also measure their own Twitter importance and how they compare to friends, colleagues and those they follow by entering their details into Edelman’s free online tool.

Photo: Irish comedy writer and director, Graham Linehan

Article courtesy of businessandleadership.com