New Indian Prime Minister Overtakes the White House in Twitter Followers

Burson-Marsteller, a leading global PR and communications company, has published the new annual global study “Twiplomacy”, which among other findings suggests that India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@NarendraModi) has become the fourth-most followed world leader on Twitter, with 4,981,777 followers.

Released today, the study also revealed that more than 83 percent of all UN governments have a presence on Twitter. Foreign ministers use Twitter to establish mutual connections, creating a virtual diplomatic network.

According to Jeremy Galbraith, CEO of Burson-Marsteller Europe, Middle East and Africa and Global Chief Strategy Officer, this study illustrates that while the number of followers is important, the number of mutual connections is even more important.

Twitter has become a powerful channel for digital diplomacy and 21st century statecraft.

Pope Francis (@Pontifex) is the most influential world leader on Twitter. His Spanish tweets are retweeted on average more than 10,000 times each. In comparison, @BarackObama’s tweets are only retweeted an average 1,400 times each, despite his massive following.

To access the complete analysis of these findings, visit: http://twiplomacy.com.