Category Archives: Social Media

Labour’s Twitter Tsars

Twitter analysis of @LabourList followers

Click on picture for larger version

This is the first of a series of posts I’ll be writing about politics and government on Twitter which will be aided/driven by my interest in social networking illustrations. To kick things off I’ve decided to do some basic analysis of @LabourList, the Twitter account of labourlist.org, the Labour Party’s ‘biggest independent grassroots e-network’, which is run by Alex Smith, who is fast becoming the unofficial spokesperson on the Labour Party’s digital work.

So I guess you’re wondering why I’ve put up this picture of a fireworks display. It is in fact a map displaying all the Twitter followers of @LabourList and the Twitter users who most mention ‘@LabourList’ in their tweets. The Twitter account of @LabourList is represented by, unsurprisingly, the LabourList logo (the red and white cross thing), while its most influential followers who most mention ‘@LabourList’ on their tweets are represented by the big blue blobs (nodes). These nodes represent the Twitter accounts of (from left to right) @BevaniteEllie @coopparty @psbook @Emma_Hoddinott and the smaller blue nodes at the end of the thin blue lines represent their followers.

If someone follows more than one of @BevaniteEllie @coopparty @psbook @Emma_Hoddinott they will have more than one line linking to their node. There are of course also red lines but these only link to followers of @LabourList …..confused?

Let me try and explain it like this: my Twitter account is @joshfeldberg and as it happens I follow @LabourList, @coopparty and @BevaniteEllie. This means I am a small node somewhere on the illustration with three lines linking to me – one red (because I follow @LabourList) and two light green – one will be linking to a big blue node representing @coopparty and the other linking to @BevaniteEllie. Hence on the original picture I would be represented like the node below:

(Zoomed in version of fig 1)

Or simplified even more…

Still with me?? … So the question now is really whether any of this is useful. Well, the truth is that the image itself isn’t useful but the data behind what created might be, although probably not.

If Alex Smith, the Editor of LabourList, wanted to increase the readership of labourlist.org he could use this diagram, or rather the data used to create it, to see the person who he should most reach out to and work with to help him acquire new followers of @LabourList and hence (the theory goes) read labourlist.org. If were to do this he would see that @BevaniteEllie is the person who he should work with. Not simply because @BevaniteEllie has over a thousand followers who do not follow @LabourList (more than anyone else who regularly mentions @LabourList in their tweets) but also because, according to http://Twitter.grader.com/, she has a higher level of ‘Twitter influencer’ than anyone else who regularly mentions @LabourList in their tweets.

All this analysis is of course very simplistic but it does provide a starting point in understanding the relationships between @LabourList’s most valuable followers and if Twitter were a reflection of the real world Alex Smith would now be well equipped to increase his influence as a Labour Party activist. However, saying all this, the value of Twitter as a whole is at best debatable, so any in depth of analysis of influencers and followers might be totally pointless! Nevertheless, being the geek that I am I find it all interesting and it gives me an excuse to map out some funky looking diagrams.

If you want to find out more about social networking analyses and influencers I strongly recommend you read Social network analysis and PR by Porter Novelli’s Social Media Planner Tim Hoang

How Teenagers Consume Media, By Matthew Robson Aged 15 (in full)

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M O R G A N S T A N L E Y R E S E A R C H

July 10, 2009

Media & Internet

How Teenagers ConsumeMedia

By Matthew Robson (Aged 15 yrs & 7 months)

Radio

Most teenagers nowadays are not regular listeners to radio.

They may occasionally tune in, but they do not try to listen to a

program specifically. The main reason teenagers listen to the

radio is for music, but now with online sites streaming music for

free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this

advert free, and users can choose the songs they want instead

of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses.

Television

Most teenagers watch television, but usually there are points in

the year where they watch more than average. This is due to

programs coming on in seasons, so they will watch a particular

show at a certain time for a number of weeks (as long as it

lasts) but then they may watch no television for weeks after the

program has ended.

Teenage boys (generally) watch more TV when it is the football

season, often watching two games and related shows a week

(totalling about 5 hours of viewing). A portion of teenagers

watches programs that are regular (such as soap operas) at

least five times a week for half an hour or so but this portion is

shrinking, as it is hard to find the time each day.

Teenagers are also watching less television because of

services such as BBC iPlayer, which allows them to watch

shows when they want. Whilst watching TV, adverts come on

quite regularly (18 minutes of every hour) and teenagers do not

want to watch these, so they switch to another channel, or do

something else whilst the adverts run.

The majority of teenagers I speak to have Virgin Media as their

provider, citing lower costs but similar content of Sky. A fraction

of teenagers have Freeview but these people are light users of

TV (they watch about 1 ½ hours per week) so they do not

require the hundreds of channels that other providers offer.

Newspapers

No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as

most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read

pages and pages of text while they could watch the news

summarised on the internet or on TV.

The only newspapers that are read are tabloids and freesheets

(Metro, London Lite…) mainly because of cost; teenagers are

very reluctant to pay for a newspaper (hence the popularity of

freesheets such as the Metro). Over the last few weeks, the

sun has decreased in cost to 20p, so I have seen more and

more copies read by teenagers. Another reason why mainly

tabloids are read is that their compact size allows them to be

read easily, on a bus or train. This is especially true for The

Metro, as it is distributed on buses and trains.

Gaming

Whilst the stereotypical view of gamers is teenage boys, the

emergence of the Wii onto the market has created a plethora of

girl gamers and younger (6+) gamers. The most common

console is the Wii, then the Xbox 360 followed by the PS3.

Most teenagers with a games console tend to game not in short

bursts, but in long stints (upwards of an hour).

As consoles are now able to connect to the internet, voice chat

is possible between users, which has had an impact on phone

usage; one can speak for free over the console and so a

teenager would be unwilling to pay to use a phone.

PC gaming has little or no place in the teenage market. This

may be because usually games are released across all

platforms, and whilst one can be sure a game will play on a

console PC games require expensive set ups to ensure a game

will play smoothly. In addition, PC games are relatively easy to

pirate and download for free, so many teenagers would do this

rather than buy a game. In contrast, it is near impossible to

obtain a console game for free.

Internet

Every teenager has some access to the internet, be it at school

or home. Home use is mainly used for fun (such as social

networking) whilst school (or library) use is for work.

Most teenagers are heavily active on a combination of social

networking sites. Facebook is the most common, with nearly

everyone with an internet connection registered and visiting >4

times a week. Facebook is popular as one can interact with

friends on a wide scale. On the other hand, teenagers do not

use twitter. Most have signed up to the service, but then just

leave it as they release that they are not going to update it

(mostly because texting twitter uses up credit, and they would

rather text friends with that credit). In addition, they realise that

no one is viewing their profile, so their ‘tweets’ are pointless.

Outside of social networking, the internet is used primarily as a

source of information for a variety of topics. For searching the

web, Google is the dominant figure, simply because it is well

known and easy to use. Some teenagers make purchases on

the internet (on sites like eBay) but this is only used by a small

M O R G A N S T A N L E Y R E S E A R C H

July 10, 2009

Media & Internet

percentage, as a credit card is required and most teenagers do

not have credit cards. Many teenagers use YouTube to watch

videos (usually anime which cannot be watched anywhere

else) and some use it as a music player by having a video with

the music they want to listen to playing in the background.

Directories

Teenagers never use real directories (hard copy catalogues

such as yellow pages). This is because real directories contain

listings for builders and florists, which are services that

teenagers do not require. They also do not use services such

as 118 118 because it is quite expensive and they can get the

information for free on the internet, simply by typing it into

Google.

Viral/Outdoor Marketing

Most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing, as often it

creates humorous and interesting content. Teenagers see

adverts on websites (pop ups, banner ads) as extremely

annoying and pointless, as they have never paid any attention

to them and they are portrayed in such a negative light that no

one follows them.

Outdoor advertising usually does not trigger a reaction in

teenagers, but sometimes they will oppose it (the Benetton

baby adverts). Most teenagers ignore conventional outside

advertising (billboards etc) because they have seen outside

adverts since they first stepped outside and usually it is not

targeted at them (unless it’s for a film). However, campaigns

such as the GTA: IV characters painted on the side of buildings

generate interest because they are different and cause people

to stop and think about the advert, maybe leading to further

research.

Music

Teenagers listen to a lot of music, mostly whilst doing

something else (like travelling or using a computer). This

makes it hard to get an idea of the proportion of their time that is

spent listening to music.

They are very reluctant to pay for it (most never having bought

a CD) and a large majority (8/10) downloading it illegally from

file sharing sites. Legal ways to get free music that teenagers

use are to listen to the radio, watch music TV channels (not

very popular, as these usually play music at certain times,

which is not always when teenagers are watching) and use

music streaming websites (as I mentioned previously).

Almost all teenagers like to have a ‘hard copy’ of the song (a file

of the song that they can keep on their computer and use at

will) so that they can transfer it to portable music players and

share it with friends.

How teenagers play their music while on the go varies, and

usually dependent on wealth –with teenagers from higher

income families using iPods and those from lower income

families using mobile phones. Some teenagers use both to

listen to music, and there are always exceptions to the rule.

A number of people use the music service iTunes (usually in

conjunction with iPods) to acquire their music (legally) but

again this is unpopular with many teenagers because of the

‘high price’ (79p per song). Some teenagers use a combination

of sources to obtain music, because sometimes the sound

quality is better on streaming sites but they cannot use these

sites whilst offline, so they would download a song then listen

to it on music streaming sites (separate from the file).

Cinema

Teenagers visit the cinema quite often, regardless of what is on.

Usually they will target a film first, and set out to see that, but

sometimes they will just go and choose when they get there.

This is because going to the cinema is not usually about the

film, but the experience –and getting together with friends.

Teenagers visit the cinema more often when they are in the

lower end of teendom (13 and 14) but as they approach 15 they

go to the cinema a lot less. This is due to the pricing; at 15 they

have to pay the adult price, which is often double the child price.

Also, it is possible to buy a pirated DVD of the film at the time of

release, and these cost much less than a cinema ticket so

teenagers often choose this instead of going to the cinema.

Some teenagers choose to download the films off the internet,

but this is not favourable as the films are usually bad quality,

have to be watched on a small computer screen and there is a

chance that they will be malicious files and install a virus.

Devices

Mobile Phones

99% of teenagers have a mobile phone and most are quite

capable phones. The general view is that Sony Ericsson

phones are superior, due to their long list of features, built in

walkman capability and value (£100 will buy a mid-high range

model). Teenagers due to the risk of it getting lost do not own

mobile phones over the £200 mark. As a rule, teenagers have

phones on pay as you go. This is because they cannot afford

the monthly payments, and cannot commit to an 18-month

contract.

M O R G A N S T A N L E Y R E S E A R C H

July 10, 2009

Media & Internet

Usually, teenagers only use their phone for texting, calling.

Features such as video messaging or video calling are not

used –because they are expensive, (you can get four regular

texts for the price of one video message). Services such as

instant messaging are used, but not by everyone. It usually

depends whether the phone is Wi-Fi compatible, because

otherwise it is very expensive to get internet off the phone

network. As most teenagers’ phones have Bluetooth support,

and Bluetooth is free, they utilise this feature often. It is used to

send songs and videos (even though it is illegal) and is another

way teenagers gain songs for free. Teenagers never use the

ringtone and picture selling services, which gained popularity in

the early 00s. This is because of the negative press that these

services have attracted (where the charge £20 a week with no

easy way to cancel the service) and the fact that they can get

pictures and music on a computer –then transfer it to their

phones at no cost. Mobile email is not used as teenagers have

no need; they do not need to be connected to their inbox all the

time as they don’t receive important emails. Teenagers do not

use the internet features on their mobiles as it costs too much,

and generally, if they waited an hour they could use their home

internet and they are willing to wait as they don’t usually have

anything urgent to do.

Teenagers do not upgrade their phone very often, with most

upgrading every two years. They usually upgrade on their

birthday when their parents will buy them a new phone, as they

do not normally have enough money to do it themselves.

• Televisions: Most teenagers own a TV, with more and

more upgrading to HD ready flat screens. However, many

are not utilising this HD functionality, as HD channels are

expensive extras which many families cannot justify the

added expenditure. Many of them don’t want to sign up to

HD broadcasting services, as adverts are shown on

standard definition broadcasts, so they can’t see the

difference. Most people have Virgin Media as a TV

provider. Some have sky and some have Freeview but

very few only have the first five channels (BBC One, BBC

Two, ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five).

• Computers: Every teenager has access to a basic

computer with internet, but most teenagers computers are

systems capable of only everyday tasks. Nearly all

teenagers’ computers have Microsoft office installed, as it

allows them to do school work at home. Most (9/10)

computers owned by teenagers are PCs, because they

are much cheaper than Macs and school computers run

Windows, so if a Mac is used at home compatibility issues

arise.

• Games Consoles: Close to 1/3 of teenagers have a new

(<2 ½ years old) games console, 50% having a Wii, 40%

with an Xbox 360 and 10% with a PS3. The PS3 has such

a low figure because of its high price (£300) and similar

features and games to an Xbox 360, which costs less

(£160). The Wii’s dominance is due to younger brothers

and sisters, they have a Wii and parents are not willing to

pay for another console.

What is Hot?

•Anything with a touch screen is desirable.

•Mobile phones with large capacities for music.

•Portable devices that can connect to the internet (iPhones)

•Really big tellies

What Is Not?

•Anything with wires

•Phones with black and white screens

•Clunky ‘brick’ phones

•Devices with less than ten-hour battery life

Remember the story about the kid who interned at Morgan Stanley Bank and whilst there was asked to write a report on teenagers’ likes and dislike, which made the front page of the financial times – here it is in full…

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	Following:	Followers:
Tom Watson – @tom_watson	1410	5385
Kerry McCarthy – @KerryMP	1298	2722
John Prescott – @JohnPrescott	69	6805
Sadiq Khan – @SadiqKhan	1481	2840
Tom Harris – @TomHarrisMP	374	2073
David Lammy – @DavidLammyMP	300	2845
Edward Balls – @edballsmp	265	2930
Edward Miliband – @EdMilibandMP	881	2122
Jim Knight – @jimknightmp	275	1495
Andy Reed – @andyreedmp	137	950
David Miliband – @Dmiliband	27	1434
Siôn Simon – @sionsimon	815	1333
Ben Bradshaw – @BenBradshawMP	53	1383
Eric Joyce – @ericjoyce	311	816
Harriet Harman – @HarrietHarman	73	1981
John Denham – @Johndenhammp	1	1089
Kevin Brennan – @KevinBrennanMP	54	1049
Liam Byrne – @LiamByrneMP	53	983
Frank Field – @frankfieldteam	5	718
Linda Gilroy – @LindaGilroyMP	45	613
Anne Snelgrove – @annesnelgrovemp	76	677
Celia Barlow – @CeliaBarlowMP	405	780
Sarah McCarthy-Fry – @smccarthyfry	200	593
Virendra Sharma – @VirendraSharma	190	673
Hazel Blears – @HazelBlearsMP	10	644
Andrew Gwynne – @Andrew_GwynneMP	106	433
David Wright – @DavidWrightMP	75	482
Derek Wyatt – @wyattd	135	511
Linda Riordan – @Linda_Riordan	52	472
Elliot Morley – @elliotmorley	12	4644
Ian Cawsey – @iancawsey	37	395
Parmjit Dhanda – @ParmjitDhanda	359	469
David Kidney – @davidkidney	146	411
Gillian Merron – @GillianMerron	14	380
Gisela Stuart – @GiselaStuart	62	383
James Plaskitt – @JamesPlaskittMP	37	385
Anthony D Wright – @tonywrightmp	216	350
Alison Seabeck – @alisonseabeck	190	263
John Spellar – @spellar	14	235
Paul Clark – @paulclarkmp	157	209
David Drew – @DavidDrewMP	13	155
Michael Foster – @MikeFosterMP	10	153
David Chaytor – @chaytord	1	161
Margaret Moran – @margaretmoranmp	15	150

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