The network diagram clearly shows that MPs are as bad as the rest of us when it comes to only listening to what we want to hear. The arrows point from the follower to the friend; so the nodes with the most arrows pointing to them are the most followed. [Click here to see full-sized picture].

Each of the nodes in the above diagram represents an MP, coloured according to party affiliation (those MPs that are not in one of the three main parties are coded white).  The layout of the nodes is based on the Fruchterman-Rheingold algorithm, which tries to place connected sites close together. Party affiliation plays no part in the positioning of the nodes, although it obviously plays a part in who MPs listen to on Twitter.

So who is the MPs’ MP on Twitter?

Whether taking into consideration neighbouring connections, or looking at the network as a whole, the most central MPs are all Labour MPs. This is hardly surprising with such a large number of Labour MPs and the tendency for party links.

Degree Centrality (i.e., only taking into consideration neighbouring MPs):

1. Kerry McCarthy (@KerryMP) -33 MP followers
2. Tom Watson (@tom_watson) -30 MP followers
3. Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) -27 MP followers
4. Kevin Brennen (@KevinBrennanMP) -26 MP followers
5. Jim Knight (@jimknightmp) and John Prescott (@JohnPrescott) – both 25 MP followers

Betweenness Centrality (based on the shortest paths between all the different nodes):

1. Kerry McCarthy (@KerryMP)
2. Tom Watson (@tom_watson)
3. Jim Knight (@jimknightmp)
4. Tom Harris (@TomHarrisMP)
5. John Prescott (@JohnPrescott)

Obviously this network analysis has only looked at the MPs in isolation, and we’d hope it was also being used to communicate more effectively with constituents, but as with all social media metrics they are the starting point for the discussion. The next stage is looking out how the networks are actually being used to share information, i.e., through RTs, rather than just potential avenues for sharing information.  Unfortunately we have to wait a bit longer for the API to gain that functionality.

UPDATE October 7th: Curiously enough I just received an email highlighting another study of the political Twittersphere by Sysomos…curious because I was emailed at my other blog which had nothing about the political blogosphere!

The company web sites were, on the whole, very professional looking sites. However, whilst a lot of money had obviously been spent by the organisations creating something very flash and glitzy, beyond the glamour they were fundamentally first generation web sites. Although they may have looked modern, they were failing to make use of the latest web technologies to engage with their customers and potential customers.

The failure to engage is shown in the network diagram below:

The four organisations, which had eight web sites between them (the yellow nodes on the diagram), only manged to attract links from a paltry 77 other organisations in total.  That they only manage to play a peripheral role within this small network, despite the fact that it is based on their connections,  also emphasises their inability to engage successfully on the web.

I don’t doubt that many of these organisations know a lot about marketing, but in the ever-changing and increasingly important world of online marketing, they are failing to demonstrate that their skills are transferable.