People who follow Jeremy Corbyn on Twitter are more likely to be reckless and challenge authority than those who follow David Cameron – but they are also less happy and more anxious, analysis has found.
After a poll gave Corbyn the lowest inaugural rating of any Labour leader in itshistory, research from Twitter marketing company SocialBro claims to reveal the different personality traits of people who follow the two party leaders.
Those who follow Corbyn on @jeremycorbyn are more less respectful of rules than followers of Cameron's @david_cameron account, and also more prone to self-expression.
Cameron's Twitter followers are more 'self-assured' than Corbyn's
A total of 68.7% of the Labour leader's Twitter followers ranked ‘high’ for challenging authority, which suggests Corbyn’s followers "prefer to challenge authority and traditional values to help bring about change,” SocialBro said.
Corbyn's fans take rules and regulations less seriously than Cameron followers, scoring 45.5% for the ‘dutiful’ trait while Cameron's followers weighed in at 53.7%.
Cameron followers are more driven (68%) compared to Corbyn followers (52%), and also more likely to think through decisions before making them - the PM's Twitter followers scored higher on the ‘deliberation’ metric with 59.3%.
The research used the ‘Personality Insights’ feature from IBM’s Watson computer system to assess the psychological traits of Twitter users by analyzing the language they use online.
Overall, the research claims, Cameron's followers are more confident, calm and satisfied with their accomplishments, the analysis suggested.
Anxiety is more common among supporters of Corbyn, who scored 72.6% for ‘self-assured’ while Cameron’s fans ranked higher with 81.5%.
Cameron’s audience is more confident, scoring at 84% compared to 71.8% for Corbyn's followers. At 84.9%, Cameron’s audience is calmer under pressure than Corbyn’s followers' ranking at 76.7%.
And the Prime Minister's follower's are also more content (72.4%) which could mean they "do not feel the need to set ambitious goals", SocialBro said, whereas only 55.5% of Corbyn’s audience are the same.
Followers of Cameron are more sociable and more likely to “enjoy the company of others” than those who follow the Labour leader – though neither set came out as particularly sociable.
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The biggest differences between the two groups, SocialBro said, was that Corbyn followers are strikingly more curious than Cameron followers (63.4% vs 46.8%), and also more prone to self-expression (71% vs 65.2%).
Corbyn’s audience were also more ‘open to change’ scored 70.7% vs Cameron’s audience score of 61.6%.
The trait of 'self-transcendence' - thinking about the world beyond yourself - was more likely to be found in Corbyn followers, who ranked 63.7% for the quality where Cameron’s audience scored a more modest 55.4%. An IBM Watson study found a high 'self-transcendence' meant people were more likely to read articles about the environment.
Cameron’s also tends to be more ‘accommodating’ and more ‘mild-tempered’ than Corbyn’s followers, with a score of 80.4% compared to only 65.7% of Corbyn followers who are classified as mild-tempered.
The Prime Minister's audience are more persistent than those who follow the leader of the opposition, with a striking difference between a Cameron follower's average score (64%) and a Corbyn follower’s (44%).
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Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet
Both sets of Twitter followers were equally likely to speak up and take charge of situations, with similar ‘assertiveness’ scores at 59.8% for Corbyn followers and 56.8% for Cameron followers.
Cameron’s audience also has more self control, at 83.6% compared to Corbyn’s audience score of 73.2%. But Corbyn’s are more willing to compromise to get what they want (61.8%).
The PM may hear back more often from his followers - his audience is more likely to respond to tweets and to retweet tweets from him than Corbyn’s followers are.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, both audiences respond positively to advertising from the party leaders.