Thread by @DrMStiegler

#TWEETORIAL: What does it mean to be a social media 'influencer'? It's more than a popularity contest. Here are 4 ways to slice the data, using #ATS2019 @symplur analytics

1⃣Here's a list of top influencers across all categories by the proprietary Symplur Rank.

Here's the same list, but limited to doctors tweeting #ATS2019 - which is why it's important for your bio to identify you as a professional if you want to be counted within your #hcsm community

Rank is based on multiple factors, including:
1. Relevance to the hashtag - higher scores go to ATS orgs and docs who are active in the ATS community all the time (not just during #ATS2019).
2. Accounts with many followers, but not just any followers...

More followers is generally better for this score, but best if they're 'high quality'
✅consistently active
✅ post and engage w content related to the hashtag regularly
✅ have their own highly engaged/relevant/ followers

So, a highly influential twitter account will not necessarily be an influencer for an event or hashtag if they are crashing the #ATS2019 party. Historical engagement and follower relevance around related topics (say #meded or #hcsm) is key.

2⃣Influencers based on number of tweets. This shows the docs who are tweeting the meeting most actively, regardless of prior relevance or number/quality of their own followers. Since they share the most, they indeed influence what's seen on the #ATS2019 thread.

So, even if you're just starting out, you can be influential for a given event or community by tweeting a lot. On the other hand, we can view influence by looking at those who DON'T tweet a lot, but still have a lot of reach...

3⃣ Influencers based on impressions - a measure of 🌎reach based on number of followers and the number of times content is retweeted, and by how many followers those retweeters had, etc.

Folks like @EricTopol crush it with just a tweet or two. #ATS2019

An account can have a huge number of impressions by:

✅ tweeting a lot, or
✅ tweeting a little but having that content get lots of retweets, or
✅ by already having a large following, or
✅ any combination of the above. #hcsm #AHSM

But not all high impressions represent true influence. For example, many companies and organizations have lots of followers and therefore lots of impressions, but their opinions and content may not have as much authority or influence as an individual in the community.

4⃣ The final metric for influence is 'mentions' - how many times your account is mentioned by other people, and with the hashtag.

You don't need to tweet at all.

😎This one captures you as an influencer if everyone else is talking about you. #ATS2019

Also, contrary to some perceptions, people aren't tweeting that much about what they had for lunch. Academic material - posters, presentations, and articles - are the most commonly retweeted, as we see here for #ATS2019 so far by @JAMA_current @NEJM and @gsmartinmd

So, how should we look at influence?

I like to consider rank, impressions, mentions, and tweet count in totality. Someone who tweets a modest amount but also has a high number of mentions and impressions is likely very influential.

What's your take, #ATS2019?