South Africa’s 10 most influential political tweeters [Infographic]

Twitter matters. There’s no doubting that. It can help effect social change, make stars, or pariahs, out of politicians, and make or break a brand. Makes sense then that mattering on Twitter also matters.

But who matters? In South African politics, the most influential people on the social network turn out to be a mix of politicians, journalists, activists and academics.

At least, that’s according to a list compiled by PR and communications company Burson-Marsteller. The company compiled the list using Klout as a standard of measurement. Klout analyses engagement across social networks and creates a Klout Score based on this data to help users understand and unlock their influence.

As the list shows, Klout isn’t all that interested in the number of followers you have, but rather how you engage and what topics you engage on.

South Africa’s top ten most influential tweeters are:

• Barney Mthombothi: 2 092 Followers
• Daniel Silke: 750 Followers
• Ferial Haffajee: 22 000 Followers
• Helen Zille: 133 688 Followers
• Jacob Zuma: 109 807 Followers
• Lindiwe Mazibuko: 23 189 Followers
• Professor Johnathan Jansen: 18 396 Followers
• Ralph Mathekga: 82 Followers
• Bobby Godsell: 1 092 Followers
• Zackie Achmat: 2 494 Followers

“South Africa is rated as the 10th largest user of Twitter in the world and the most avid Twitter user on the continent. On a global scale the political landscape has identified Twitter as means to engage the community and shape online debate. Locally, however, political leaders are behind their global counterparts and aren’t as actively engaged on this media,” said Hemant Lala, managing director at Arcay Burson-Marsteller.

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