Sam McBride

@SJAMcBride · Belfast · joined 06 Jan 2012

Northern Ireland Editor of the Belfast Telegraph & Sunday Independent. Author of Burned: The Inside Story of the Cash-for-Ash Scandal. Any views mine alone.

85 083Followers

101Following

26 003Posts total

237.3KViews on collected posts

Latest posts

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride19 Sep

@SJAMcBride The revisionism of terrorism - aided and abetted by far too many. 1.5K views · 25 likes · 0 reposts · 3 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride19 Sep

Louden expresses no remorse for Joe Paton, the "very quiet" working man he subjected to an awful death. Despite IRA claims to be non-sectarian, from Louden’s own lips spew a host of sectarian & racist terms. Yet this is a man many people regard as a hero, chanting 'up the Ra'. ht

11.4K views · 107 likes · 31 reposts · 7 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride19 Sep

The man who murdered our printer 50 years ago is now laughingly boasting of his exploits, yet exposes his lies & bigotry. Thomas Louden didn't speak to me when I knocked his door yesterday - but the newspaper he bombed has obtained a telling video of him. https://t.co/rypx4KtMj3 24.7K views · 224 likes · 72 reposts · 25 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride17 Sep

Northern Ireland's devolved government is in effect insolvent. It has become an unwelcome UK experiment in what happens when fiscal discipline collapses - and Stormont has little incentive to control its spending. London talks tough, but keeps acting weak. https://t.co/ScL3TL9wH8 11.5K views · 67 likes · 19 reposts · 23 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride17 Sep

More money well spent by Stormont. Sometimes all one can do is marvel at the wisdom of our rulers. It's frankly outrageous that the horrid Treasury isn't sending billions more so that Jayne Brady can get a proper pay rise. Shocking austerity. https://t.co/rZe78vYNbQ 18.5K views · 58 likes · 8 reposts · 12 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride16 Sep

When the Belfast Telegraph was bombed by the IRA in 1976, the 800 staff took refuge in St Anne's Cathedral. At midday on Saturday - the day our printer Joseph Paton died from his injuries - there will be a memorial service for him in St Anne's. All are welcome. https://t.co/2LazY

2:03

24.5K views · 289 likes · 49 reposts · 14 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride25 Jun 2025

Some more details here: The book cotains four parts in which each writer sets out with equal force what to them seem the best arguments for Irish unity, and then the best arguments for the status quo. As a whole, the book is neutral on the question. https://t.co/cqguOMRnrq 4.7K views · 15 likes · 3 reposts · 5 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride25 Jun 2025

@SJAMcBride Save ya some time Sam, In the words of the great man himself, Paul McCartney; "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" 710 views · 16 likes · 2 reposts · 1 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride25 Jun 2025

You can pre-order For And Against A United Ireland directly from the Royal Irish Academy - the first 500 copies will be signed by us both: https://t.co/CSlD1Gn3Vr 7.3K views · 28 likes · 3 reposts · 8 replies Open on X →

Sam McBride@SJAMcBride25 Jun 2025

📢Some news from me: I've written a book with the erudite & eloquent Fintan O'Toole in which we each argue for - and then against - Irish unity, setting out objectively what seem to us each side's best arguments, and the issues people across the island of Ireland should consider.

132.5K views · 522 likes · 85 reposts · 91 replies Open on X →

Against accounts of the same size

6 posts from the last 90 days, next to the 10K–100K follower range. shown to more people than peers of the same size.

Median views15 002this account935median for 10K–100K

Reach, %17.63%this account3.66%median for 10K–100K

Engagement, %1.30%this account1.52%median for 10K–100K

Metric	This account	Median for 10K–100K	Ratio
Median views per post	15 002	935	16.0×
Reach (views ÷ followers)	17.63%	3.66%	4.82×
Engagement rate	1.30%	1.52%	0.86×

Others in this range → Compare with another account → How these benchmarks are built →

Growth & engagement

How the posts we collected actually performed: views and reaction rate post by post, what the audience did with them, and where the follower count goes.

Views per post

132.5K25 Jun

7.3K

710

4.7K

24.5K16 Sep

18.5K17 Sep

11.5K

24.7K19 Sep

11.4K

1.5K

Last 10 collected posts, oldest on the left. The scale is logarithmic: one post can outrun the rest a hundred times over.

Engagement rate per post

0.54%25 Jun

0.53%

2.68%

0.53%

1.45%16 Sep

0.43%17 Sep

1.00%

1.31%19 Sep

1.29%

1.83%

Reactions — likes, reposts, replies and quotes — divided by views. Median for 10K–100K accounts is 1.52%.

What the audience does

Likes69.1%1 351 in total

Reposts13.9%272 in total

Replies9.7%189 in total

Quotes1.7%34 in total

Bookmarks5.6%110 in total

Share of every reaction we collected for this account. Replies mean argument, reposts mean endorsement, bookmarks mean the post was worth keeping.

The follower curve appears once this account has two daily snapshots — we take one a day, and this one is on its first.

Latest posts

Against accounts of the same size

Growth & engagement

Views per post

Engagement rate per post

What the audience does

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