Tech firms dominate social media league table

EBay, Google, Apple and four other tech firms among the world's top 10 social media users

Technology firms are making the most effective use of social media, leaving non-tech brands behind, according to a newly-published league table.

EBay clinched the top spot in the Social Media Reputation Index, developed by social media specialist agency Yomego. The online auctioneer was awarded the spot due to its long-standing engagement with its customers through forums, corporate blogging, Twitter and Facebook.

EBay has also been quick to adapt to new social media offerings, adopting Facebook's Open Graph so that customers can split the cost of a gift and pay for their share via Paypal.

While eBay topped the list, it was followed by five other technology firms – Apple, Google, BlackBerry and Amazon, in that order. The highest-ranked non-tech company was Gucci, which took sixth place, followed by Ford and MTV. The top 10 was rounded off by two more tech companies, Samsung and Yahoo.

Brand giant Coca-Cola, which is ranked in first position in the Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking system, came in at 24th on the list.

"Even though the company has implemented a number of social media tools to engage with customers – both consumers and businesses – it goes to show how important it is to engage with their audience in the right way," said David Eldridge, CEO of social media analytics provider Alterian.

Each brand in the Social Media Reputation (SMR) Index was given a ranking based on its Social Media Reputation (SMR) score, which measures the social media "noise" around a brand, i.e. how many people are talking about it, combined with how positive their comments are. The was calculated by Alterian's social media analytics tool, SM2.

It then adds a "recency" score, so a brand that is being talked about now has a higher recency score than one talked about six months ago.

Human analysis is then applied to each score to ensure it is accurate. The brand is then given an overall SMR score out of 100.