Who Is Retweeted in Times of Political Protest? An Analysis of Characteristics of Top Tweeters and Top Retweeted Users During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution

As the number of microblogging tools and social media users rapidly increases, it is important to understand who and what is being disseminated. One emerging area of research is the use of Twitter as a means for the masses to voice dissent and mobilize action. This study analyzed the features of the top 30 tweeters and top 30 retweeted users during the 2011 protests in Egypt. By conducting a content analysis of tweets from the #jan25 data set (N = 600), we found that the characteristics of the source including location, media affiliation, longer account duration, and number of followers positively impacted retweetability. Power users or those tweeters sending the most messages were more likely to be based in Egypt than in other areas. Users who retweet messages seem to constitute a different group with more passive characteristics. The content of messages such as language intensity, information or URL sharing, and call to action were not significant predictors of retweetability. Because tweets had the same underlying theme, that is, dissent against the prevailing government, characteristics of the source differentiated the top tweeters from the top retweeted users.