Jon Worth Blogger, Writer, Speaker, Trainer

Following my post about European Commissioners on Twitter, and suggestions to get Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt onto the network, I thought I would next do a brief study of how members of the Danish Parliament (Folketing, with MF standing for a member of the Folketing) are doing on Twitter. This post sums up what I found. The study is rather long, so is broken up into sections. Comments are most welcome, in English or Danish (jump to comments section).

Contents
1. Finding the MFs
2. Elimination of small and inactive accounts
3. Results table
4. Insights – individuals
5. Insights – parties
6. Suggestions for improvement
7. More than 100 tweets, but not active in the last 30 days
8. More than 100 tweets, but all tweets are automated from Facebook
9. Accounts with less than 100 tweets
10. MFs NOT on Twitter

1. Finding the MFs
I took a three step approach to finding members of the Folketing on Twitter. Starting with list of MFs from the Folketing website on 7.1.12 (including 3 substitute members, making the total 182), I first used Google.dk to search for the name of the MF’s name and ‘Twitter’. If this revealed no name I then searched Twitter using the ‘Suggest People’ function. And as a final check I scanned Danish Twitter users’ lists to ensure no MF was missed. The 85 MFs I found on Twitter are now on this Twitter list of my own. The 97 not on Twitter are listed at the end of this post.

2. Elimination of small and inactive accounts
The threshold to include an account in the study was that the account has written at least 100 tweets. Less than this and it is impossible to gauge how an account will develop. This eliminated a further 38 MFs, all listed below. A further 5 accounts were eliminated because no tweets had been produced in the last 30 days, and 4 more accounts are feeds of news from Facebook only and were also removed. This leaves a total of 38 active MFs on Twitter.

3. Results table
The table below lists the 38 active MFs on Twitter, organised by number of followers. * denotes a Minister. The three columns at the right end are the interesting ones – the Klout score (out of 100) is an automated measure of online influence, based on interactions between users on Twitter, and these users’ respective influence. Reply of RT (out of 10) is my subjective view on how likely a user is to engage with others by replying or RTing. Pol(itical) insight (out of 10) is my subjective view on what can be learned from the tweets – think @carlbildt as the standard for a score of 10.

4. Insights – individuals
The undoubted leader of the pack is @Vestager. With more than twice as many followers as the second-ranked politician, and with a friendly, interactive style and plenty of photos, there is a lot other Danish politicians could learn from her.

Next come the communicative ministers – @IdaAuken, @ManuSareen and @Oestergaard. Particularly Auken and Østergaard are ready to reply to questions posed on Twitter, but none of the three have really developed their own style. Development Minister Friis Bach @christianfbach remains well behind the others, not really engaging on Twitter yet.

The conversationalists are regular MFs who reach out and discuss politics and plenty of other things besides. Here the leading character is Stine Brix (@smbrix), followed by Sofie Carsten Nielsen (@sofiecn), Pernille Skipper (@PSkipperEL), Benny Engelbrecht (@BennyEngelbrech), Magnus Heunicke (@Heunicke) and Jeppe Mikkelsen (@JeppeMikkelsen). All of these accounts allow a Twitter user to relate to the politician as a person, and replies and RTs are likely from these accounts.

The opposition ranks are led by Ellen Trane Nørby (@EllenTraneNorby) and Søren Pind (@sorenpind), both of whose tweets can have an edge to them, but with rather few tweets so far it is unclear how these accounts will develop. Among the smaller accounts, Rosa Lund (@RosaLundEl) and Rasmus Horn Langhoff (@rasmushorn) have had some reasonable, while Simon Kollerup (@simonkollerup) and Nikolaj Villumsen (@nvillumsen) could develop into conversationalists.

5. Insights – parties
Radikale Venstre, led by Vestager, beats all other parties hands down – almost all the party’s MFs are present on Twitter, and 4 of the other top accounts also come from that party. All other parties are a long way behind. The two large parties – Socialdemokraterne and Venstre – are largely absent from Twitter, with the @larsloekke account being dormant a rather surprising choice by Venstre’s communications team. None of the Socialdemokraterne’s leading figures (including the Prime Minister) are in any way active on Twitter. Meanwhile among the other parties Enhedslisten is a fraction ahead of the rest with Brix and Skipper, SF really has only Auken, and Liberal Alliance, Dansk Folkeparti and Konservative have a sprinkling of MFs.

6. Suggestions for improvement
No Danish politicians, not even Vestager, get close to the gold standard of European politicians on Twitter set by the likes of @carlbilbt, @alexstubb, @NeelieKroesEU and @jensstoltenberg. Vestager, with 2866 tweets the most active MF at the time of writing, is almost 2000 short of Stubb’s total. Content builds engagement, and engagement builds a following on the network – too few Danish politicians have understood that.

Among the ranks of the normal MFs, too many accounts are poorly designed (poor pictures, no cover or background image), and a number do not even have biographies or web URLs. Not everyone can name all MFs, so the starting point to gain a following is to make a clear statement of who you are and what you do. Further, only 2 MFs follow more than 1000 people, and many follow less than 100. Twitter is a two-way network, it is about learning from and conversing with others, and far too few MFs seem to be in listening mode. This could be a question of technology, and a lack of understanding of Twitter lists.

Critics may say that all of this is inevitable in Denmark, where Twitter remains under developed and the Danish language Twittersphere is small. But conversely how better as an up-and-coming politician to develop a role and a reputation using Twitter? Danish journalists, academics and bloggers are increasingly taking to Twitter – what are aspiring MFs waiting for?

7. More than 100 tweets, but not active in the last 30 days
Mette Reissmann (@mettereissmann) Tweets: 264, Follows: 169, Followers: 451 (Last tweet: 13.6.12)
Lisbeth Bech Poulsen (@LisbethBech) Tweets: 276, Follows: 55, Followers: 457 (Last tweet: 8.11.12)
Lars Løkke Rasmussen (@larsloekke) Tweets: 350, Follows: 1211, Followers: 18718 (Last tweet: 26.9.11)
Uffe Elbæk (@uffeelbaek) Tweets: 352, Follows: 1, Followers: 2336 (Last tweet: 13.9.11)
Lykke Friis (@lykkefriis) Tweets: 569, Follows: 0, Followers: 1428 (Last tweet: 18.8.11)

8. More than 100 tweets, but all tweets are automated from Facebook
Villy Søvndal (@villysoevndal) Tweets: 132, Follows: 0, Followers: 2981
Astrid Krag (@Astridkrag) Tweets: 145, Follows: 1, Followers: 819
Pia Olsen Dyhr (@PiaOlsen) Tweets: 311, Follows: 0, Followers: 972
Mogens Lykketoft (@lykketoft) Tweets: 349, Follows: 0, Followers: 658

9. Accounts with less than 100 tweets
Ane Halsboe-Larsen (@AneHalsboe) Tweets: 0, Follows: 64, Followers: 78
Louise Schack Elholm (@LouiseElholm) Tweets: 0, Follows: 15, Followers: 55
Birgitte Josefsen (@stemjosefsen) Tweets: 0, Follows: 0, Followers: 38
Inger Støjberg (@Stoejberg) Tweets: 0, Follows: 0, Followers: 46
Villum Christensen (@VillumC) Tweets: 1, Follows: 40, Followers: 382
Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (@JakobEllemann) Tweets: 3, Follows: 2, Followers: 37
Karina Adsbøl (@Karinameldgaard) Tweets: 3, Follows: 1, Followers: 36
Morten Marinus (@MortenMarinus) Tweets: 3, Follows: 144, Followers: 89
Thomas Danielsen (@ThDanielsen) Tweets: 3, Follows: 2, Followers: 29
Anders Samuelsen (@anderssamuelsen) Tweets: 4, Follows: 25, Followers: 3851
Hans Christian Schmidt (@hanschr_schmidt) Tweets: 6, Follows: 5, Followers: 379
Pernille Vigsø Bagge (@PernilleVB) Tweets: 6, Follows: 0, Followers: 147
Henrik Sass Larsen (@SassLarsen) Tweets: 6, Follows: 33, Followers: 423 <- could be fake (see below)
Karina Lorentzen Dehnhardt (@MF_K_Lorentzen) Tweets: 8, Follows: 3, Followers: 91
Jacob Bjerregaard (@JaBjerregaard) Tweets: 9, Follows: 226, Followers: 127
Hans Andersen (@HansAndersenV) Tweets: 10, Follows: 26, Followers: 31
Mike Legarth (@mikelegarth) Tweets: 15, Follows: 130, Followers: 315
Pia Adelsteen (@PAdelsteen) Tweets: 18, Follows: 98, Followers: 61
Jacob Jensen (@jacobjensenMF) Tweets: 20, Follows: 2, Followers: 318
Mette Gjerskov (@MetteGjerskov) Tweets: 27, Follows: 3, Followers: 524
Trine Bramsen (@Trinebramsen) Tweets: 27, Follows: 18, Followers: 289
Jan E. Jørgensen (@JanEJoergensen) Tweets: 28, Follows: 34, Followers: 171
Jeppe Kofod (@JeppeKofod) Tweets: 30, Follows: 121, Followers: 987
Karin Gaardsted (@KarinGaardsted) Tweets: 30, Follows: 9, Followers: 57
Jens Joel (@Jens_Joel) Tweets: 32, Follows: 44, Followers: 377
John Dyrby Paulsen (@JohnDyrbyPaulse) Tweets: 34, Follows: 32, Followers: 447
Dennis Flydtkjær (@flydtkjaer) Tweets: 37, Follows: 123, Followers: 177
Nadeem Farooq (@nadeemfa) Tweets: 38, Follows: 97, Followers: 666
Pernille Boye Koch Stedfortræder (@pernillebk) Tweets: 41, Follows: 38, Followers: 91
Thomas Jensen (@MFThomasJensen) Tweets: 43, Follows: 246, Followers: 302
Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (@SophieHAndersen) Tweets: 54, Follows: 129, Followers: 992
Kirsten Brosbøl (@Kirstenbrosbol) Tweets: 55, Follows: 17, Followers: 478
Brian Mikkelsen (@BrianListeC) Tweets: 67, Follows: 465, Followers: 1130
Per Clausen (@PerClausen3) Tweets: 68, Follows: 134, Followers: 429
Mette Bock (@mettebock) Tweets: 76, Follows: 3, Followers: 91
Torsten Schack Pedersen (@Torstenschack) Tweets: 78, Follows: 17, Followers: 421
Fatma Øktem (@fatmaoektem) Tweets: 79, Follows: 53, Followers: 252
Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil (@RosenkrantzT) Tweets: 88, Follows: 137, Followers: 928

10. MFs NOT on Twitter
Alex Ahrendtsen, Anne Baastrup, Anne-Mette Winther Christiansen, Annette Lind, Annette Vilhelmsen , Anni Matthiesen, Bent Bøgsted, Bertel Haarder, Birthe Rønn Hornbech , Bjarne Corydon, Bjarne Laustsen, Carsten Hansen, Christian Juhl, Christian Langballe, Christine Antorini, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, Daniel Toft Jakobsen Stedfortræder, Doris Jakobsen Siumut, Edmund Joensen Sambandsflokkurin, Eigil Andersen, Erling Bonnesen, Eva Kjer Hansen, Eyvind Vesselbo, Finn Sørensen, Flemming Damgaard Larsen, Flemming Møller Mortensen, Frank Aaen, Gitte Lillelund Bech, Hans Christian Thoning, Hans Kristian Skibby, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Henning Hyllested, Henrik Dam Kristensen, Henrik Høegh, Holger K. Nielsen , Jan Johansen, Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl, Jesper Petersen, Joachim B. Olsen, Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen, Jørgen Arbo-Bæhr, Jørn Dohrmann, Julie Skovsby, Karen Ellemann, Karen Hækkerup, Karen J. Klint, Karen Jespersen, Karin Nødgaard, Karsten Nonbo, Kim Andersen, Kim Christiansen, Kristian Pihl Lorentzen, Kristian Thulesen Dahl, Lars Barfoed, Lars Christian Lilleholt, Lars Dohn, Leif Lahn Jensen, Leif Mikkelsen, Lene Espersen, Lennart Damsbo-Andersen, Mai Henriksen, Maja Panduro, Marianne Jelved , Marie Krarup, Martin Henriksen, Merete Riisager, Mette Frederiksen, Mette Hjermind Dencker, Mikkel Dencker, Mogens Jensen, Morten Bødskov, Nick Hækkerup, Nicolai Wammen, Ole Birk Olesen, Ole Hækkerup, Ole Sohn, Orla Hav, Özlem Sara Cekic, Per Stig Møller, Peter Christensen, Peter Juel Jensen , Peter Skaarup, Pia Kjærsgaard, Preben Bang Henriksen, Rasmus Helveg Petersen, René Christensen, Sara Olsvig Inuit Ataqatigiit, Sjúrður Skaale Javnaðarflokkurin, Søren Espersen, Steen Gade, Thyra Frank, Tina Nedergaard, Tom Behnke, Torben Hansen, Troels Lund Poulsen, Troels Ravn, Ulla Tørnæs.

Second Photo: “Margrethe Vestager” by Radikale Venstre on May 12, 2010 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution

NOTE: a first draft of this post incorrectly stated Stine Brix was a member of SF. She is in Enhedslisten. This has been corrected. Thanks @leoparddrengen for pointing this out! In return he asks me to point out his guide to Twitter in Danish. Fair deal I reckon!