What Determines a Journalist’s Popularity on Twitter?

Abstract

Popularity on social media has become more important for journalists as news organisations increasingly encourage their journalists to develop online personas which are popular with audiences. However, outlets’ social media guidelines have also narrowed journalists’ scope for action to do so, particularly in what they can post. Using a quantitative analysis of Twitter data and profiles of 300 UK journalists, this study asks if the strategic use of low-level forms of behaviour as well as journalists’ professional self-presentation on social media offer “a way out”. It finds that a “golden formula” to increase popularity on Twitter through these means does not exist and suggests that journalists’ popularity on Twitter is largely beyond their immediate control, raising important questions about the significance and use of popularity metrics on social media as benchmarks in news organisations.