About This Document
This document gives a survey of use of Twitter by morris and related traditional dance sides, based on information provided in profiles on the Morris Federation Teamfinder service.
Summary of Findings
A survey of use of the Twitter listed by sides in the Morris Federation’s Teamfinder service was carried out based on data collected on 13 August 20201 and updated on 1 September.
A total of 46 Twitter accounts were found.
A summary of the findings for accounts which have posted over 1,000 tweets is given below.
| Team Twitter account | No, of followers | No. of tweets | Founded |
| Shrewsbury Morris | 105,600 | 586,700 | 2011 |
| Rampant Rooster Morris | 3,968 | 58,800 | 2009 |
| The Wild Hunt | 2,627 | 3,122 | 2011 |
| Oakenhoof Voluntary Arts Organisation | 2,497 | 2,663 | 2014 |
| Ironmen and Severn Gilders | 1,355 | 1,925 | 2011 |
| Rag Morris | 1,067 | 6,028 | 2009 |
| Brighton Morris Men | 1,045 | 1,464 | 2009 |
| Owlswick Morris | 989 | 2,280 | 2012 |
| Five Rivers Morris | 936 | 1,784 | 2009 |
Observations
Based on a more detailed analysis of the 44 Twitter channels we found:
- There have been a total of over 680,000 tweets
- There are over 133,000 accounts following the channels
- The Shrewsbury Morris Twitter account provides an example of an outstanding use of social media, publishing over 88% of the tweets and having over 80% of the followers.
- The most successful accounts have mostly been running for over 10 years
- A number of accounts which have been set up in recent years have not been posting during the pandemic.
Discussion
It is clearly the case that Facebook is much more widely used by dance sides than Twitter (there are over 370 Facebook profiles compared with 44 Twitter accounts listed by sides in the Teamfinder service). However it is also the case that (a) there are many people who will refuse to have anything to do with Facebook and (b) the table above shows that some sides have gained significant following through their use of Twitter.
The Shrewsbury Morris Twitter account provides a great example of how a morris side has used a social media service to have an outstanding impact, with over 100,000 followers. This following is based on over 580,000 tweets – which clearly shows that the account is tweeting on topics beyond morris dancing. A report on a Zoom talk on “Shrewsbury Morris and their 102,000 twitter followers“ provided the background information on how the account was set up and has developed during its lifetime.
However as can be seen from Table 1, a number of other sides have gained audiences of between 900 and almost 4,000 followers, which suggests that Twitter can provide a valuable dissemination channel.
Best Practices
The @WhitethornM Twitter account provides a good example of a well-designed profile, with an attractive cover image, a profile which will stand out on a small screen and a meaningful description of the side. The image also indicates that the account is followed by a number of other morris sides (@dyke_pig and @BlackheathM, are listed).
Updating Your Team’s Profile on the Morris Federation’s Teamfinder
If you decide to create a Twitter account(or if you have one which is not listed) we encourage you to add a link to the account on your side’s profile on the Morris Federation’s Teamfinder service.
Page created: 18 Aug 2021
Last updated: 1 Sept 2021
Changes made: Added page update details
Page author: Brian Kelly
