Social media popularity boost for leaders following election announcement
PM Kevin Rudd appears to be outperforming Tony Abbott on social media as the election nears, research suggests.
According to the ARC Centre for Creative Industries and Innovation, the Labor leader’s Twitter handle is being cited far more often than Abbott’s.
During July Kevin Rudd (@KRuddMP) was mentioned on Twitter almost twice the amount Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) was mentioned. Their research notes this is due to the power of incumbency and most-likely the PM’s easier username.
Dr Axel Bruns, Associate Professor, Media & Communication at ARC Centre for Creative Industries and Innovation told Mumbrella: “I think a lot of it has to do with the power of incumbancy. For one thing he has a much larger number of followers on Twitter, that in itself may easily explain why more people are mentioning him because more people are following him.
