This year, a traditionally print-based company led the list of the top companies on Twitter, according to a new report from NetProspex, a sales and marketing database company.
The list was part of NetProspex's fourth annual "Social Business Report," which tracked social cities, industries, and companies. The "top 50 companies on Twitter" were those that NetProspex found to have "the most social employees." The rankings were based on the "NetProspex Social Index," a score calculated using "social presence" (number of profiles registered with a business email address on social networking sites) and "social connectedness" (number of "connections across social networks," from Twitter followers to LinkedIn contacts), stated the report.
A high score means there is a high percentage of businesspeople within that company actively using Twitter, according to NetProspex’s 2010 release. For its latest social media report, NetProspex analyzed 12 million business contacts, spanning more than 58 jobs and 300 industries.
This year's list of the top companies on Twitter looks quite different from last year's: many of the firms that topped in 2010 have seen their status slide. For example, Google Inc. fell from #1 to #15; The Walt Disney Co. fell from #2 to #8; and Live Nation, Inc., which was ranked #3 in the fall, fell off this summer’s "list completely. Notably missing from the list are social media companies like Twitter and Facebook.
Other reports offered conflicting information on the social media prowess of different firms. Mashable.com’s list of top brands that have found success on Twitter featured JetBlue, Starbucks, and Vevo (the only cross-listed company was Cisco Systems, which NetProspex ranked #49). And a report by Burson-Marsteller measuring social media use among Fortune Global 500 Companies in 2010 stated that Asian corporate Twitter accounts were the leaders in growth, but NetProspex only ranked American companies.
Are you surprised by the firms included on the list? See the rankings below.
