Olympic Torch in Trafford is officially the UK's most positive Twitter campaign (From Messenger Newspapers)

Olympic Torch in Trafford is officially the UK's most positive Twitter campaign

10:00am Wednesday 25th July 2012 in Sport

RESULTS show that the UK's most ‘positive’ Olympic coverage so far was when Sir Bobby Charlton carried the torch through Old Trafford on June 24 at 6.25am.

Sir Bobby was pictured with the torch outside Old Trafford stadium, which generated hundreds of tweets from the crowds and a 71 per cent positive response measured by EDF Energy, who are monitoring the nation’s reactions to the games on Twitter as part of its Energy of the Nation campaign.

Dan Foster, Olympic communications coordinator for Trafford Council, said: "This result is particularly sweet as Trafford had one of the earliest starts of any torch relay in the country. We used Twitter to get people up and out on the streets to cheer the torch.

"Predictions said we'd only get a few hundred people because of the 6am start and atrocious weather, but we did in fact get thousands, our Twitter campaign played a really big part in generating interest and numbers. People really loved the iconic image of Sir Bobby lifting the torch outside Old Trafford stadium, which is an Olympic football venue.

“We are pleased that our Twitter campaign has had the most positive response in the UK so far, this shows that there are many people in the north who care about the Olympics."

Overall, the country’s love of football had a significant impact on how positive the nation was feeling about the London 2012 Olympic Games during the Torch Relay. Twitter saw 9,541 Olympic-related tweets posted on the day (June 19) that England beat Ukraine, with sentiment levels soaring to 72 per cent positive as hopes were raised for a strong Team GB performance at London 2012.

Conversely, 30,683 tweeted when Beckham was not picked for Team GB, with positive tweets sinking to the lowest point of 54%, a drop of 14% from the previous day.

As the official electricity supplier of London 2012, EDF Energy is measuring the nation’s reactions to the Olympic and Paralympic Games – the highs, lows, triumphs and glories - on Twitter and turning those reactions into the world’s first social media driven 30 minute lightshow every night at 9pm on the EDF Energy London Eye.