A REMARKABLE Twitter map shows how much of south America, eastern Europe and the Middle East approved of Muirfield’s ongoing ban on female members.
The map shows that much of the planet lit up over the East Lothian club’s decision not to reverse its men-only policy.
But while western Europe and North America turned angry red as most Twitter users condemned the decision, much of the rest of the world approved.
The image, created by a social media expert based in Edinburgh, took a sample of 10,000 Muirfield-related tweets from around the world.
The tone of the tweets was then analysed to determine whether they were in favour of or against the recent decision.
Once the data was collected, it was transferred onto a map to show how different parts of the world responded.
Red areas – predominantly western Europe and North America – indicate strong opposition to the decision, which has been labelled “indefensible” by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Greener areas show where the most favourable tweets came from – mainly South and Central America, the Balkans, and parts of Asia, including Japan.
Surprisingly, certain parts of Europe also appear to agree with the decision, with large expanses of Norway and Sweden coloured in green.
Other green areas such as South Korea and the Philippines, also seem to be out-of-touch with Western expectations.
Countries such as China and Russia are not coloured in since residents are unable to use Twitter.
Kenny Murray, who created the map, was also able to determine that 70% of the tweets were made by men, and that there have been almost half a million mentions of Muirfield on Twitter.
He said: “This remarkable image shows just how far around the world the discussion has gone. It seems most major nations are discussing it, with millions of Twitter users worldwide now seeing Muirfield matched alongside hashtags such as #sexistpigs.
“A funny piece of data, though, is that of those discussing the decision, almost 70% are men.
“So it’s not even an army of women angry at the decision, but men around the world rallying to criticise Muirfield – that’s their target market pretty annoyed.
“If Muirfield had planned ahead of their decision and looked to manage it properly, perhaps it may not have got so out of hand.
“Or maybe, stopping women from golfing on a private course was always going to cause this level of internet activism.
“Whether it actually damages their business has yet to be seen.”
