April 9 – As the Premier League title race heats up on the pitch, a closer look at the digital realm reveals significant developments in club engagement since 2016 as Manchester City and Manchester United battle it out for top dog.
The data highlights the growing importance of digital engagement for Premier League clubs, showcasing substantial increases in social media followers across major platforms over the past six years.
The role that X plays in team news distribution has become much more prevalent in modern football, as X, formerly Twitter, usage in general has skyrocketed since the 2016 statistics were recorded.
Manchester City’s unrivalled success on the pitch has resulted in corresponding success in the digital realm, with follower tallies increasing by over 1000% on Instagram. They have had the current fastest-growing Premier League following, building on their success on the pitch.
Instagram is particularly popular with the younger demographic, so it makes sense that it has seen the bigger spike in followers.
Manchester United retain the Instagram crown, having grown to an impressive 63.6 million followers – more than any other team bar FC Barcelona (126 million) and Real Madrid (154 million).
The Red Devils also leapfrogged Arsenal, who failed to capitalise on their significant Twitter (X) head start back in 2016. Growing from 610,000 followers to over 37 million, Man Utd are truly the social media kings of the Premier League despite not winning a title in over a decade.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1713970068labto1713970068ofdlr1713970068owedi1713970068sni@g1713970068niwe.1713970068yrrah1713970068