Narendra Modi is third most followed leader on Twitter, US Prez Trump leads

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the third most followed leader on Twitter after US President Donald Trump and Pope Francis, according a report by communications agency BCW.

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj is the most followed woman leader in the world and occupies seventh spot in overall ranking.

"Indian Prime Minister @NarendraModi takes the third and fourth spots, with 42 million followers on his personal account," the study named Twiplomacy said.

Modi's institutional account @PMOIndia occupies fourth spot with over 26 million followers and outranks official Twitter account of the US President, @POTUS ranks fifth and @WhiteHouse ranks sixth, with over 23 million and 17 million followers respectively as per the study.

Trump is the most followed world leader on Twitter, with 52 million followers on his @realDonaldTrump account and Francis has 47 million followers, the report said.

Swaraj, who is also the most followed foreign minister, has over 11 million followers, the study said.

Social media has become a primary conduit of diplomacy. It has gone from being an afterthought to the very first thought of world leaders and government's across the globe, as audiences flock to their Twitter newsfeeds for the latest news and statements," Chad Latz, Chief Innovation Officer, BCW said.

The study said that Trump is personally active on his own Twitter accounts and his tweets have generated 264 million interactions (likes and retweets) over the past 12 months, more than five times as many as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with 52 million interactions, and 12 times as many as Pope Francis, with 22 million interactions.

According to Twiplomacy, the heads of state and government and foreign ministers of 187 countries had a presence on Twitter as of May 18, 2018, representing 97 percent of all 193 UN member states.

"The governments of only six countries, namely Laos, Mauritania, Nicaragua, North Korea, Swaziland and Turkmenistan do not have an official presence on the platform. Even the Chinese government's State Council Information Office maintains a presence on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube," the study said.