The cult of Curtice: social media love for polling guru

Tweet: "CURTICE DEPLOYED"@estwebber
By Sam Bright
BBC Trending

A mild-mannered number-cruncher has become the surprise celebrity on a tense election night.

John Curtice, Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde, has been relied on by the BBC as a key source of polling wisdom throughout the general election campaign. However, his social media fame reached a peak on election night, with his name regularly appearing on the UK top trends list.

Even before polls closed, Twitter users were unable to hide their excitement at Curtice's upcoming TV appearances.

Poem, celebrating John Curtice@jpshaddock

Someone has even created a Twitter page, designed to monitor and celebrate Curtice's TV appearances. The page, simply called, "Is John Curtice on TV", was started in April and has nearly 8,000 followers.

Tweet, with a picture of John Curtice, saying "At last"@JohnCurticeOnTV

Curtice is being followed closely by his Twitter fans. There has even been speculation about why he's been allocated a balcony on the BBC's election programme.

Tweet, saying that Curtice and Dimbleby are recreating Romeo and Juliet@grayinglasgow
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'Hung Parliament' trends in Britain

Visit the Trending Facebook page

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Tweet, saying that Curtice is "surveying the chaos below"@jack_murley

On Wednesday, Curtice was quoted by the New Statesman, saying "I've no wish to become a media celebrity". It seems as though Twitter has other ideas.

Blog by Sam Bright