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Paper by Axel Bruns, Jean Burgess and Tim Highfield, presented at The Arab Spring: A Symposium on Social Media and the Politics of Reportage, at Swinburne University, Melbourne (8 June 2012).
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http://mappingonlinepublics.net/http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Inter- and Intra-Language Engagement on Twitter in Arab Spring Hashtag CommunitiesAssoc. Prof. Axel Bruns, Dr. Jean Burgess, & Dr. Tim HighfieldARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and InnovationQueensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
[email protected] – [email protected] – [email protected] @snurb_dot_info - @jeanburgess - @timhighfieldhttp://mappingonlinepublics.net/
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
The Arab Spring and Twitter
o Twitter analysis:o Tracking of key hashtags (#egypt, #libya) throughout 2011
o #egypt: 23 Jan. to 30 Nov. – 7.48m tweets, 445,000 unique userso #libya: 16 Feb. to 30 Nov. – 5.27m tweets, 476,000 unique users
o Language differentiation:o Fewer than 10 characters above ASCII 127 tweet is ‘Latin’o More than 10 characters above ASCII 127 tweet is ‘non-Latin’o User groups: ‘Latin’ (< 33%), ‘mixed’ (33-66%), ‘non-Latin’ (>
66%)
o User differentiation:o Lead users: top 1% most active userso Highly engaged users: next 2-10% active userso Least active users: bottom 90% active users
#egypt11 Feb.: Mubarak Resigns
#egypt
#egypt
#egypt
#libya21 Feb.: first reports of
unrest
23 Aug.: Bab al-Azizia stormed
#libya
#libya
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Comparing Different Phases
o Twitter activity patterns change over time:o #egypt: 1-28 Feb. vs. 15 June to 15 Sep.o #libya: 16 Feb. to 15 Mar. vs. 1 Aug. to 30 Sep.
o Early media attention vs. later developments
o Differences in Latin / mixed / non-Latin tweeting?o Differences between most / least active users?o Interactions between language groups?
#egypt
1-28 Feb. 2011 15 June to 15 Sep. 2011
#egypt: @mentions
1-28 Feb. 2011 15 June to 15 Sep. 2011
#egypt: @mentions
1-28 Feb. 2011 15 June to 15 Sep. 2011
#libya
16 Feb. to 15 Mar. 2011 1 Aug. to 30 Sep. 2011
#libya: @mentions
16 Feb. to 15 Mar. 2011 1 Aug. to 30 Sep. 2011
#libya: @mentions
16 Feb. to 15 Mar. 2011 1 Aug. to 30 Sep. 2011
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Findingso Clear differences between #egypt and #libya:
o #egypt:o Significant Latin participation at first, then strong shift towards non-Latino May indicate fading of #25Jan hashtag, shift to #egypt for ongoing discussiono Lead users especially likely to send non-Latin tweetso More mixed-language users in lead groups
o #libya:o Latin-dominated throughout, small shift to non-Latino May point to limited domestic use of / access to Twittero Lead users especially likely to send Latin tweets
o Both:o Latin users most likely to engage with non-hashtag users
(e.g. news organisations, other external sources)o Non-Latin users (in #egypt) equally engaging with non-hashtag users and mixed-language
users
o To do:o What URLs are being shared in each case? o Are there differences between Latin / non-Latin users?o Are there differences between more / less active users?
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
@snurb_dot_info@jeanburgess@_StephenH@DrTNitins@timhighfield@cdtavijit
