According to a recent study ‘Members of Parliament on Twitter 2022' by the media monitoring software company Meltwater, the Twitter influence of the Chairwoman of The Finns party, Riikka Purra, was the highest of all MPs with more than 1.15 million reactions. SDP leader and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin alone had a higher Twitter impact than the rest of the party's parliamentary group.
Like MPs, there are huge differences in the activity and effectiveness of Twitter use between parties. Among all the parties, The Finns party was far ahead of the others on Twitter.
MPs are fairly active Twitter users, with 188 out of 200 MPs having a Twitter account. But, there are large differences in the ability to use the platform among the MPs.
"In 2022, Chairperson Sanna Marin was more influential on Twitter than the rest of the SDP's 39 MPs' parliamentary group combined. Almost 69% of the reactions and impact generated by the SDP parliamentary group's tweets were due to Marin. The corresponding figure for the parliamentary group of the Centre Party's leader Annika Saariko was 5%. Marin's popularity is high, and above all, she has a great ability to generate reactions on Twitter. Position, personality, and entertainment value all contribute to popularity," says Markus Selin, Head of Media Analytics at Meltwater. "It is known that Marin is a vital politician for the SDP in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Her soaring popularity on social media channels only confirms this perception. Without Marin, the SDP's Twitter influence would be the weakest in a cross-party comparison."
Purra generated the most reactions
In 2022, Riikka Purra's (The Finns Party) tweets garnered the most reactions, more than 1.15 million, in comparison between MPs. Marin was second with just over 1 million, and Jussi Halla-aho (The Finns Party) was third. Marin was the clear leader among MPs in terms of the number of reactions generated by a single tweet. Krista Kiuru of the SDP was second and Antti Kaikkonen of the Centre Party third.
In 2022, Jani Mäkelä (The Finns Party) was the most active tweeter in Parliament with 13,451 tweets and retweets. Second was Satu Hassi (Greens), and third was Mikko Kärnä from the Centre Party.
"Twitter offers a free, direct and easy way to engage in a conversation with potential voters. Satu Hassi of the Greens, Anna Kontula of the Left Alliance, and Anders Adlercreutz of the RKP engaged in a genuine dialogue with various parties on Twitter. They use Twitter in a very professional way," says Selin.
The Finns Party are the clear leader
In a cross-party comparison, The Finns Party was the clear leader on Twitter in 2022 in terms of influence and reactions to tweeting. The Finns Party had just over 4 million reactions. The National Coalition Party was second (1.7 million) and the SDP third (1.47 million).
"Political issues are actively discussed and debated on Twitter, and I think it is the most important social media channel for current and future MPs and parties. Many topics that arouse political passions start from Twitter and spread like wildfire to traditional media. Journalists use Twitter in abundance. Speed is of the essence, and you need to be a little more brash," says Selin. "Active and professional use of Twitter will improve a politician's chances of success in the upcoming parliamentary elections. You can succeed in politics without Twitter, but in an increasingly digital world this is difficult."
The Greens and The Centre Party MPs get relatively few reactions on Twitter compared to their activity. Green MPs sent as many as 1,249 tweets per MP, the most of any parliamentary group.
"The chair of the Greens, Maria Ohisalo, tweeted 1,991 tweets, which generated around 165,000 reactions, while Purra's 2,143 tweets exceeded the 1.15 million mark. Petteri Orpo, the leader of the Coalition Party, achieved almost the same number of reactions as Ohisalo with ten times less tweets. The Green and Centre parties received a rather lukewarm response to their tweets," says Selin.
About the research
Meltwater has analysed the Twitter activity of all MPs (188) and party chairpersons who use Twitter, as well as the Twitter activity of different parties, for the whole of 2022. The analysis has looked at the number of tweets sent by MPs and the reactions and impact generated on Twitter. Reactions are mainly generated by retweets, replies and likes. The analysis focuses on Twitter, which is actively used by politicians and is also an open social media channel. Meltwater has carried out the analysis independently and impartially. 12 MPs do not have a Twitter account.
HT
Source: Meltwater
