For my thesis I need to first successfully write and defend a proposal which I’ve been working on for a while now. I’m currently writing my methodology section and I’m struggling. I turn to you dear readers for suggestions. I know that you can help me out!

My question is – how does one rate influence on Twitter? I know there is Tweet Grader but I’m not sure it gives me a reliable enough way of measuring someone’s influence, amplification and impact. I need to be able to pick the Top twenty commentators on a subject – any suggestions on how to figure that out? Presumably there is a way to look at a user’s number of followers, combine that with how many people they follow plus the amount of times their posts are re-tweeted to get an idea of their influence. A further thing to think about is to understand someone’s influence on Twitter do you need to then track the RTs of their RTs? Presumably this tool already exists!

Please and thank you for your help with my methodological woes!