3 June 2012 | By Estelle Metayer

Last year, I wrote a blog that summarized the most influencial experts on Twitter discussing corporate governance. One year later, let's look at what has changed and analyze how the corporate governance community is shaping up on Twitter.

The methodology

I have listed the corporate governance experts already identified in my twitter list ( see here) , and added those who my colleagues are also interacting with. Unlike last year, I have then used Peerindex to score those experts. I find Peerindex a better judge of real influence and less prone to manipulation. I have added in the last column the Klout to score each of these tweeters too - you'll see there are few inconsistencies.

As I had done last year, I have focussed on the individuals behind the tweets and the insight they share. I excluded those who cover a much larger range of issues than just corporate governance ( less than 5% of tweets devoted to corporate governance): people such as Nouriel Roubini ( @nouriel ) who would have ranked 69 in Klout, or #1, or Rosabeth Kanter ( @rosabethkanter ) who would have ranked 65 ), as the topic they are covering have a much wider range than corporate governance and the data gets clouded by their public work and comments. I also have excluded the accounts that are representing a national association and do not put forward an individual person or writer, such as the excellent @nacd account for the North American Association for Corporate Directors ( and would have ranked third). I excluded Harvard's Law School Corp Gov program ( @harvardcorpgov ) and @rockcenter4corpgov for the same reasons.

You will note some CSR experts have been included in the list: I have included them when they are specifically addressing issues of corporate governance and CSR as is the case with Fabian Pattberg ( @fabianpattberg ) and Janet Morgan ( @jan_morgan ).

 

So who are the most influential corporate governance tweeters ?

#1: Lucy Marcus ( @lucymarcus ) from Marcus Ventures,comes in first position ( she was second last year). Lucy is a renown writer and speaker on issues relative to corporate governance, and in particular the role of women. She is a globally renown observer of corporate boards: this explains how she has shifted her focus over the past 12 months from practitioner to commentator ( she is very much linked to Reuters' network of columnists) and academic.

#2: Estelle Metayer (My account @competia  . Those hours of research are paying off !)

#3: Douglas Y. Park: ( @dougYpark): Douglas is a Palo Alto business attorney and corporate governance advisor located in Silicon Valley in California. We will have the pleasure of seeing him teach at Stanford University this summer.

 

Congratulations to Lucy and Douglas for making a difference.

 

Here are a sample of their last tweets about Corporate Governance as I am writing this short article:

Lucy Marcus:
Wal-Mart investor ire could cloud annual meeting, Reuters http://reut.rs/Kwl5LB #corpgov

Doug Y Park
RT @stanfordcorpgov: U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants SEC review of proxy adviser Glass, Lewis & Co. http://stnfd.biz/bjcU6 via @CNBC #corpgov

 

I am noting that the influence scores of the community are much higher than last year, proof that the topic is picking up weight through the social media circles. Individual tweeps also are ranking higher.

 

An overview of the corporate governance community on Twitter

I analyzed the profile of those who are using the #corpgov hashtag on Twitter, signalling their topic. Here are some findings from Tweetcharts.com :

 

The community is getting more international

When comparing the #corpgov community in 2012 to the one I described in 2011, the main difference in my opinion is how much more international the experts are. Voices from all over the world are raising and the conversation has turned global. In particular, here are the international #corpgov hotspots:

Italie: Following the change in law requiring Italian companies to reach a quota of women on boards, the Italian community is blossoming:inspired by elected parliamentary Alessia Mosca  @alessiamosca,  @Valore_D is leading an association promoting the role of women in leadership positions, @tommaso_arenare from Egon Zehnders is devoted to placing great candidates on Italian boards. Other voices include  @NicolaCattini @AnnaZavaritt @paolaparimerito @mammaeconomia @stefaniaboleso and @giuzan .

Canada: Professor Richard Leblanc ( @richardRLeblanc ) has been very active this year, while managing a dynamic community on LinkedIn. Other accounts include @company2keepinc , @sitatthetable, and Dora Koop ( @ghongovernance) at McGill University.

Singapore: Badashruti Mitrabasu  @bedashruti  talks about the practical aspects of Corporate Governance in Singapore.

 

Here is the ranking of the top 25 tweeters on Corporate Governance

 

This list is by no means exhaustive, so if I have forgotten you , or anyone you would recommand, feel free to add their name and content in the comments below... (note that the ranking and number of followers varies from day to day, so these were the numbers at the time the article was written).

 

Ranking	Who is behind the tweets	Twitter	Perindex score	Klout score	Number of followers
#1	Lucy Marcus	lucymarcus	66	63	9318
#2	Estelle Metayer	competia	62	59	5629
#3	Douglas K. Park	dougYPark	62	55	1827
#4	Sit at the Table	sitatthetable	62	60	5665
#5	Fabian Pattberg	fabianpattberg	61	na	7172
#6	Janet Morgan	jan_morgan	61	43	2845
#7	Broc Romanek	brocromanek	60	51	1936
#8	Francine McKenna	retheauditors	60	54	8183
#9	James McRitchie	corpgovnet	60	40	1267
#10	Leon Kaye	leonkaye	60	55	2667
#11	Alice Korngold	alicekorngold	60	48	3141
#12	Company2keep	company2keepinc	60	48	2606
#13	James Goldblatt	pegasuscorpinfo	60	43	873
#14	Frank Aquila	faquila	59	36	2858
#15	Jayne Juvan	Jaynejuvan	59	47	1680
#16	Claude Super	claudesuper	59	48	1680
#17	Matt Orsagh	mattorsagh	59		493
#18	Richard Leblanc	drrleblanc	59	44	1192
#19	Norman Marks	normanmarks	58	43	2333
#20	Bill George	bill_george	58	52	11743
#21	Alex Todd	trustenabler	58	45	1180
#22	Fay Feeney	fayfeeney	57	47	5206
#23	Jim Brashear	jfbrashear	57	38	881
#24	Nell Minow	nminow	56	47	2583
#25	Sergio Guzman	sguzmanl	56	37	1219