This visualization from Tweetping.net shows Twitter activity in real time, worldwide. Using Twitter’s API, Tweetping.net tracks the total number of tweets, including word and character count, generated per second. It also tracks the latest mentions and hashtags used, categorized by region. The lit areas show where Twitter activity is happening at the moment.
For more, visit: The Atlantic: What Twitter Really Looks Like
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Heads of state have realized the importance of being active in social media. The number of heads of state with Twitter accounts increased 78% in 2012 with respect to 2011, according to a report by the Digital Policy Council. Roughly 75% of them have Twitter accounts. According to a Washington Post article, world leaders that tweet more come from countries that have a tradition of transparency. 63% of the them come from “politically stable” countries.
President Barack Obama (@BarackObama) has the largest number of followers on Twitter for a head of state, with more than 25 million followers. In second place comes Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (@chavezcandanga) with 3.8 million followers. Turkish president Abdullah Gül (@cbabdullahgul) comes in third place with 2.6 million followers, and Queen Rania of Jordan (@QueenRania) is fourth with 2.5 million followers. Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) comes in fifth place, and Brazilian president Dilma Rouseff (@dilmabr) comes in sixth place.
Other countries with leaders who have Twitter accounts include, Germany, India, Morocco, Tunisia, India, Argentina, Somalia among others. Even Pope Benedict XVI (@Pontifex) has Twitter presence.
For more information visit: Digital Daya: World Leaders on Twitter – Ranking Report, December 2012.
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Pope Benedict XVI has Twitter presence beginning December, 2012. His English language account @Pontifex already has 1,342,380 followers from all around the world, and has sent 14 tweets. The Floating Sheep blog mapped followers of this account based on their location as of December 8, 2012. According to this map, the largest number of followers were located in Italy and Nicaragua, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Spain and Ireland among others.