Apollo Research found just two per cent of people followed by tech journalists on Twitter came from the PR industry, while 40 per cent of those followed were fellow hacks.

Apollo Research MD and co-founder Richard Laven said: ‘The results indicate that journalists are using Twitter in only a limited way to source directly from PROs, but are looking to social media to follow the industry news posted by their peers.’

The research named 3WPR director Steven Davies as the most influential tech PR professional, according to journalists in the sector.