NICOLA Sturgeon has opened up about the “disgusting” abuse she gets on Twitter.

The First Minister spoke about criticism of so-called "cybernats" and said there was an “unrealistic expectation” for political leaders to “police” supporters’ behaviour and comments on social media, adding: “I’m not responsible for everything people say on Twitter, thank God.

“But it cuts both ways – I try not to look at it but some of the abuse I get on Twitter would literally make your hair curl. It’s horrible, misogynist, really filthy, disgusting stuff.”

Speaking to political comedian Matt Forde, below, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Sturgeon also admitted she is “obsessed” with keeping the SNP in power and not ending up in an “existential crisis” like Scottish Labour.

READ MORE: ‘Rattled’ pro-UK parties attack Sturgeon for missing GERS figures announcement

The First Minister said watching Labour go from being “impregnable” in Scotland to their current position as the third-largest party at Holyrood has profoundly influenced her leadership.

She said: “I’ve seen Labour go from way up there – a seemingly impregnable position – to where they are right now, in single figures at elections and in an existential crisis. It’s kind of hard-wired into me, it’s in my DNA to avoid making the mistakes that I saw them make at every turn.”

“I’m obsessed,” she said, revealing she is “constantly assessing and reassessing what we are doing”.

Sturgeon, who led the SNP as they won 56 out of 59 Scottish constituencies at the 2105 General Election, described the feat as “an unprecedented and probably unrepeatable record historic performance” but warned “you can become a victim of your own success”.

Labour’s “completely disjointed and really acrimonious relationship” between the party’s MSPs and MPs was a factor in their decline in Scotland, Sturgeon argued, although she admitted there were sometimes “tensions” between the SNP at Holyrood and Westminster.

Sturgeon said: “I’ve got a very, very close relationship with Ian Blackford, our leader down there, which is essential because we talk all the time about their tactics. Inevitably, two groups in two different parliaments will have issues that cause a bit of tension that we have to work through carefully but overall it works really well.”

Sturgeon also said she has a problem with the “nationalist” associations of the SNP’s name and denounced those with extreme views, saying they are not welcome in her party.