Probably not. Twitter use is still a minority game.
But there’s no doubt that whatever the merits of either side’s argument, the Better Together campaign beats Yes Scotland on Twitter. Remember, at this point Yes Scotland has been running for a month, Better Together for 24 hours, give or take.
So far @UK_Together has made 34 Tweets, has 1,576 Followers, and is Following 1,147. Out of 34 tweets, the majority are interactive, including 5 retweets.
So far @YesScotland has made 73 Tweets, has 4,494 Followers, but is Following only 15. Out of 73 tweets, exactly one is interactive – a RT of Nicola Sturgeon on Alex Salmond on 25th May at the campaign launch.
Just by looking at Twitter, you would judge that Yes Scotland is being run by people who don’t care and don’t intend to care what the grassroots think: @YesScotland is for broadcasting official campaign views only. Whereas @UK_Together is reacting to people who tweet to it, and retweeting ordinary supporters.
Obviously a campaign shouldn’t be judged just by Twitter. But it’s interesting that for all of their war chest, Yes Scotland didn’t think to hire anyone who knows social media.
—
Update, 8 hours later:
Now @UK_Together has made 52 Tweets, has 1300 more people Following – now at 2410, and is Following 1,151 (four more). Out of 52 tweets, the majority are still interactive, including 10 retweets.
And @YesScotland has made 74 Tweets, has gained 30 new Followers (4526), but is still Following only 15. No signs of interactivity at all.
@caronmlindsay The @YesScotland site is a much more useful campaigning hub for volunteers, highlighting its a grassroots, community campaign
— Liam Furby (@wotsnews1) June 25, 2012
@dhothersall @wotsnews1 @yesscotland Well, they had to change it after I found my pic on there when I don’t support them.
— Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) June 25, 2012
@dhothersall @wotsnews1 @yesscotland I think it’s probably good for indy minded folk to talk to each other, but not to get new folk engaged
— Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) June 25, 2012
It’s an excellent point. The number of people who will vote Yes or No can’t be judged online – many voters don’t use social media. But so far polling data suggests that the Yes campaign hasn’t yet convinced the crucial 51%. Ignoring any group of people who might be convinced to vote Yes or to campaign for Yes doesn’t seem sensible. Certainly the Better Together campaign isn’t ignoring social media.
Edinburgh Eye 