UN SDG influence maps:
Gender equality
29th March 2021
Gender equality
Primary influencer types: Raisers, activists
Network profile: Central conversations, outlying clusters
The discussions of gender equality are very interconnected and spark from the tangled hub of conversations at the centre. We mostly see organisations (and those working within these organisations), activists, campaigns, and politicians gaining influence here.
Unsurprisingly, UN-related accounts occupy much of the centre of gender equality discussions, including United Nations, UN Women, United Nations CSW, UNFPA.
With large accounts like these, we may expect to see a halo of accounts around each (indicating retweets but not necessarily any other engagement beyond that), however we can see many lines of discussions branching out from the central UN accounts, suggesting a more engaged community and conversations here. An example of a halo effect is the largest yellow account - Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN.
Typically most of these conversations stay at the centre of the map, but a few stem outwards at some points. In particular, the dark green cluster gravitates towards the bottom right of the map, capturing a distinct community of predominantly US politicians.
It resembles an “echo chamber” kind of conversation - though slightly connected to the main discussion, it ventures further outside to form its own community. It seems that the more prominent or powerful politicians sit closer to the central discussion, for example President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary Antony Blinken form an influential cluster (red).
We also see governing organisations tangled in the same sphere, including the Department of State and the European Commission, as well as individuals working for these organisations, such as Josep Borrell Fontelles (European Commission) and Michelle Bachelet (UN). It’s common in this map for organisations and associated individuals to hold the same space together - for example, the orange cluster encompasses UNFPA, Dr Natalia Kanem (Executive Director of UNFPA) and Diene Keita (Deputy Executive Directors of UNFPA) too.
As you look beyond the centre of the map, we can see several intersections with gender equality emerging with more specific topics, including as mentioned UNFPA (improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide), as well as women in STEM, climate change organisations, and politics. There are also smaller clusters for location-based discussions of gender equality, for example March 4 Justice AU for those in Australia.
It is the tangles of accounts that criss-cross the centre of the map that are of most interest, as this is where links and connections are formed between different sub-communities. In this Gender Equality map, we can see the large UN-focused group involved in many interconnected conversations in the centre of the map.
We can also see that there is a geographical slant to some of the conversations in this topic. This is not unusual, but it shows that there may be work that can be done to move discussions on gender equality away from being focused on country-level concerns.
Recommendations
Emotive topics are those most likely to generate interest from influential Twitter users. When producing content which features controversial or emotive topics - like gender equality - be prepared for a high degree of interest from all sides of the debate. Do not be afraid to add subjective comments to your posts – these are topics with real-world impact, and we should not shy away from making our feelings clear.
When journalists or other media figures post something related to your field, share these more widely. These will generate more interest than sharing the equivalent post from that person’s news organisation, and will help to form connections to the wider community discussing that topic.
Next up
We’ll be creating more influencer maps on this topic and the other 17 Sustainable Development Goals over time, so stay tuned for the next update, and visit the maps section to explore the other topics.
If you are interested in uncovering the key influencers and communities in a certain field or topic, get in touch to talk through your ideas.
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