Manchester United launched its official Twitter feed yesterday, becoming the "last Premier League club to join the micro-blogging site," according to John Reynolds of the GUARDIAN. The club at 8:30am local time sent out its first tweet, which read, "New era, same spirit. The season starts here. Let's do this." The feed had "accumulated almost 200,000 followers by lunchtime." The account "will initially launch in English, with [a] foreign-language version to follow." A possible reason for "now launching on Twitter is that the club is thought to be close to appointing a social media campaign manager." ManU yesterday also "launched on Sina Weibo, the China-based micro-blogging site" (GUARDIAN.co.uk, 7/10). The FINANCIAL TIMES' Aglionby & Blitz report ManU within two hours of debuting its Twitter feed already had more than the "combined following of Hull City, Crystal Palace and Cardiff City, promoted from the championship last season." ManU's sights "may be more set on" La Liga clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, which have almost 9.5 million and 8.16 million followers, respectively (FINANCIAL TIMES, 7/11).
| EPL CLUB TWITTER FOLLOWERS AS OF JULY 11 |
| CLUB | HANDLE | FOLLOWERS |
| Arsenal | @Arsenal | 2,509,071 |
| Chelsea | @chelseafc | 2,393,641 |
| Liverpool | @LFC | 1,778,285 |
| Manchester City | @MCFC | 996,803 |
| Tottenham | @SpursOfficial | 523,392 |
| Manchester United | @ManUtd | 359,507 |
| Newcastle | @NUFCOfficial | 258,336 |
| Everton | @Everton | 216,668 |
| West Ham United | @whufc_official | 191,254 |
| Aston Villa | @AVFCOffical | 182,098 |
| Fulham | @FulhamFC | 144,869 |
| Sunderland | @SAFCofficial | 144,172 |
| Swansea | @SwansOfficial | 132,792 |
| Norwich City | @NorwichCityFC | 124,723 |
| Southampton | @SouthamptonFC | 121,366 |
| Stoke City | @stokecity | 118,839 |
| West Bromwich Albion | @WBAFCofficial | 83,980 |
| Cardiff City | @CardiffCityFC | 49,661 |
| Crystal Palace | @Official_CPFC | 46,764 |
| Hull City | @hullcityteam | 38,849 |
