A 裸聊直播 academic has been working with social media analysts SoTrender to evaluate the social media activity of the UK鈥檚 main political parties in advance of the UK elections.
Dr Darren Lilleker, an expert in political communication, has been helping the team to analyse Facebook, Twitter and YouTube output to see who is winning the election battle on social media networks.
Dr Lilleker said, 鈥淪ocial media may not have an impact upon the outcome of an election but, to some extent, the activities that parties and citizens engage in on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube may be a reflection of broader political attitudes and behaviours which have resonance at this or subsequent elections.
鈥淲e find political parties approaching social media in different ways but with different returns on their investment. Labour are the most interactive and the have the most engaged following but tend to over-communicate.
鈥淭he Green Party鈥檚 output appears to indicate that small parties can gain a following and build awareness through clever use of social聽media and by developing attractive content. Some users appear to be active across profiles suggesting they are either aiding their choice or are an activist聽on one party聽profile and trolling an opponent.鈥�
The project, titled 鈥楪eneral Election 2015 on social media鈥� gives an honest account of each party鈥檚 performance on social media. The Liberal Democrats have the lowest following on Facebook, and second lowest on Twitter, while the Conservatives come out on top for Facebook followers, with the UK Independence Party trailing in second. On Twitter, the Labour Party have the highest following, with the Conservatives in second.
The report was also quick to praise the efforts of the Green Party and their main campaign video 鈥楥hange the Tune鈥�, stating it had the widest reach of any post by another party.
Download the report below聽to read it in full.
