NEIL Oliver has beat Line of Duty star Martin Compston on a list of the most influential Scottish Twitter influencers.
The GB News presenter, who has been heavily criticised for his claims about coronavirus, the pandemic and vaccination, was ranked higher than the pro-independence actor by communications agency Spey.
The data used to compile the list was taken from Twitter engagements between January 1 and December 10.
According to the analysis, Compston was the eighth most influential – only just beaten by keen Unionist and former These Islands advisory board member Oliver.
READ MORE: Line of Duty star Martin Compston pans Matt Forde in Twitter spat
Meanwhile, Fern Brady was crowned the most influential Scottish Twitter user.
One tweet earned the Bathgate-born comedian more than 80,000 likes on the platform after she revealed she had been wearing her builder’s hoodie and not her boyfriend’s as she thought.
Communications agency Spey said it was the strength of tweets like this going viral which put her the top of the Scots.
Spey, who compiled the results with Upfluence, said it looked at Scottish Twitter users who had more than 10,000 followers, were not politicians, and had tweeted more than 10 times in the past year, and tracked how many likes, comments and retweets they had.
READ MORE: Line of Duty smashes BBC iPlayer records to be named biggest show of 2021
Sport and comedy dominated the top of the rankings and making their way into the list are Aston Villa player and Scotland captain John McGinn, in at number two; and Arsenal and Scotland footballer, Jen Beattie, at three.
Others in the top 10 include comedian Eleanor Morton and rugby captain Stuart Hogg.
Thom Watt, head of digital at the Spey, said: “Fern Brady is brilliant at Twitter. Her jokes and anecdotes work perfectly for the format, and she’s found a huge audience online.”
He added: “The number of followers is only part of what makes social media accounts effective.
READ MORE: Martin Compston and Gary Lineker to star in BBC Scotland Hogmanay specials
“We wanted to understand how active and interested those followers were in the tweets of different Scottish personalities. We looked at the engagement on the tweets of high profile Scots and it’s clear to see that we’re a country of sport lovers with strong opinions, but we obviously don’t like to take ourselves too seriously, either.
“Our list reflects the Scottish people who have entertained, interested and provoked us throughout the year.”
Others in the top 20 include BBC Alba’s Calum Maclean, television presenter Storm Huntley, blogger and make-up entrepreneur Jamie Genevieve and author Christopher Brookmyre.
The top 20 list in full is:
1. Fern Brady (@FernBrady)
2. John McGinn (@JMcGinn7)
3. Jen Beattie (@JBeattie91)
4. Eleanor Morton (@EleanorMorton)
5. Stuart Hogg (@StuartWHogg_)
6. Andy Robertson (@AndrewRobertso5)
7. Neil Oliver (@TheCoastGuy)
8. Martin Compston (@Martin_Compston)
9. Paul Black (@PaulBlack)
10. Amy Macdonald (@Amy_Macdonald)
11. Calum Maclean (@Caldamac)
12. Storm Huntley (@stormhuntley)
13. Rachel Corsie (@RachelCorsie18)
14. Jasper James (@JasperJames_)
15. Jamie Genevieve (@JamieGenevieve)
16. Dougie Vipond (@DougieVipond)
17. Susan Calman (@SusanCalman)
18. Darren McGarvey (@LokiScottishRap)
19. Christopher Brookmyre (@CBrookmyre)
20. Alex Kapranos (@AlKapranos)
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