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Who Tweets Most, From Where, About What In Africa?

Who Tweets Most, From Where, About What In Africa?

Cities in Northern and Southern Africa rule when it comes to most tweets on the continent, according to a fourth-quarter study by London- and Nairobi-based public relations company, Portland Communications.

Three of Africa’s top five Twitter capitals are in South Africa and two are in Egypt, AllAfrica reports.

Ranked in order of tweats sent, the top five cities for tweeting are Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni (the urban area east of Johannesburg), Cairo, Durban and Alexandria.

The Portland study was conducted on all geo-tagged Twitter posts –users who allowed their device to show their location, or put location information into their tweat.

Johannesburg’s metro area averages one geo-tagged tweat every 13 seconds. Users in the metro area posted 608,387 geo-tagged tweets over a three-month span, VoiceOfAmerica reported.

The numbers don’t necessarily reflect the total number of tweets out of each
city but they are a reliable estimate for the amount of Twitter usage, said Allan Kamau, head of Portland Nairobi.

It’s no surprise that Johannesburg tweets more frequently than any other city in Africa — South Africa has the highest smartphone penetration of any nation on the continent, according to VoiceofAmerica.

This is the second time Portland has done the study — the first was in 2012. The biggest change is in how Twitter is being used, Kamau said.

“In terms of topics, one of the shifts that we’ve seen is when we look at our survey in 2012
… it was very much social conversations online,” Kamau said in the VoiceOfAmerica report. “(This time) we’re seeing much more corporate. Many more companies having a presence online, so brands having a greater share of voice, being more active, engaging consumers directly.”

Consumers are also using Twitter to complain and shed light on bad products or services, not only by companies but government.

“It’s a much more public place, and also it’s a direct and public channel to complain. And
people organize very well on social media,” said Kamau.

In terms of regions, tweaters in Accra, Cairo, Johannesburg and Nairobi are the most active.

East Africa’s tweating capital, Nairobi, ranked No. 6 in the continent, while West Africa’s tweating capital, Accra, ranked No. 8, according to the Portland study.

Nelson Mandela’s was the single most-tweeted event in the fourth quarter of 2013, but football was the most-tweated topic.

The football team mentioned most often was Johannesburg’s Orlando Pirates. (#BlackisBack, #PrayForOrlandoPirates, #OperationFillOrlandoStadium), Portland said.

Tuesdays and Fridays were the top-tweeting days, with activity increasing through the afternoons and evenings, and peaking at around 9 p.m.

English, French and Arabic are the most common languages on Twitter in Africa, accounting for 75.5 percent of the tweets analysed. Zulu, Swahili, Afrikaans, Xhosa and Portuguese are the next most commonly tweated languages in Africa, Portland found.

“As well as adding diversity of perspective on political and social issues, Africa’s Twitter users are also contributing linguistic diversity,” said Mark Flanagan, head of digital for Portland, in a prepared statement. “Twitter is now established on the continent as a source of information and a platform for conversation.”

Brands are showing up increasingly on Twitter in Africa, according to AllAfrica.

Portland tracked hashtag activity from top brands such as Samsung (#SamsungLove),
Adidas (#Adidas) and Magnum ice cream (#MagnumAuction).

Companies, governments, organizations and even sports teams see great
potential in marketplace engagement, Kamau said.

Politically-related hashtags are less common than other issues, with just four
active political hashtags tracked during the fourth quarter of 2013. This included
#KenyaAt50 – celebration of Kenya’s independence – and the competing #SickAt50.

“The African Twittersphere is changing rapidly and transforming the way that Africa communicates with itself and the rest of the world,” Kamau said in a prepared statement. “Our latest research reveals a significantly more sophisticated landscape than we saw just two years ago. This is opening up new opportunities and challenges for companies, campaigning organisations and governments across Africa.”