The #EUinfluencer 2018 ranking has brought communicators, policy makers and digital influencers together in a debate focused on the future of the political conversation in the EU.
Leading Twitter influencers shared their insights, tips and tactics to use social media to drive issues, and change perception.
For the second year in what has now become an annual event, ZN used proven methodology to rank the top-40 Twitter influencers and brought them together in the stunning Cercle de Lorraine to answer questions such as:
- Is social media good or bad for democracy?
- Are the most successful politicians on Twitter the most obnoxious ones?
- How can we as individuals influence political debates in a positive manner?
James Crisp (#EUinfluencer number 7) and ZN’s Liora Kern moderated the discussion.
Below we proudly present this year’s #EUinfluencer top-40:
This is the methodology:
STEP 1: FINDING INFLUENCERS
We used social media monitoring tools to find potential influencers focused on EU related topics, based on their biography and on content shared. Broad queries were used as well as niche queries to identify individuals in different languages that relate them with relevant topics. Then various search parameters were added.
STEP 2: DATA CONSOLIDATION
We evaluated the impact of the influencers using established criteria such as:
- Followers
- Average retweets per tweet (total retweets divided by the number of tweets)
- Density of followers in Brussels (the amount of followers of the influencer in Brussels divided by his or her amount of followers)
STEP 3: CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION – EXCLUSION
We established criteria for inclusion and exclusion from the list:
- Brussels bubble focused (topic wise)
- Only individuals included, no companies and/or associations
- MEPs, Commissioners and top Commission and Parliament workers excluded
STEP 4: RANK DIGITAL INFLUENCERS
Three main KPIs were used to create a formula – each KPI counting for an equal percentage:
- Average retweets per tweet by others (33%)
- Density of followers in Brussels (33%)
- Number of followers in Brussels (33%)
- Badly balanced influencers (one of the KPIs too low) were also taken down the list
In short, the procedure is very similar to last year although there are a few changes:
- We now include influencers tweeting in other languages than English
- We stopped counting Reach as a subjective KPI.
This event was organised in cooperation with EURACTIV.