Mapping Online Publics

Axel Bruns / Jean BurgessARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology

a.bruns@qut.edu.au – @snurb_dot_info / je.burgess@qut.edu.au – @jeanburgesshttp://mappingonlinepublics.net – http://cci.edu.au/

Project: New Media and Public Communication

• ARC Discovery (2010-12) – A$410.000– Axel Bruns (CI), Jean Burgess (SRF) – QUT, Brisbane– Lars Kirchhoff, Thomas Nicolai (PIs) – Sociomantic Labs,

Berlin– Project blog: http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3Social network sources:

· YouTube· Flickr· Twitter· blogs

Research tools:

· network crawler· content scraper· content analysis· network

analysis

Research tool development and baseline data

Baseline information:

· data extraction· content creation

statistics· patterns in terms

and themes· baseline social

networking map· interconnections

between social network spaces

Content creation patterns

Changes over time:

· short-term statistics· regular / seasonal

patterns

Cluster profiling:

· common themes / patterns

· lead users

Focus on specific events

Cultural dynamics:

· rapid spread of new ideas

· communication across clusters

· thematic discourse analysis

· relationship with main- stream media coverage

Methodology – Twapperkeeper

Analysis

Capture

Identification #Hashtag Archive

Tweet Statistics and @Replies

Patterns of Activity over Time

Networks of @Replies

(short/long term)

Tweet Texts

Keyword /Key PhraseMapping

Twapperkeeper Data Structure

Twapperkeeper #Hashtag Archive

Activity Patterns• User name• User information• Timestamp

Network Data• @Replies• RT @User

Tweet Content• Tweet text• Embedded links

Analysis – Twapperkeeper

•Volume over time

•Keyword frequencies

Patterns of Activity over Time

•Conversation vs. follower network

•Dissemination of RTs vs. @replies

Networks of @Replies(short/long term)

•Keyword analysis over time

•Keyword co-occurrence maps

Keyword / Key Phrase Mapping

Methodology – Twitter

Analysis

Capture

IdentificationAustralian Twitter users (by location)

and Their Networks

Tweet Statistics and @Replies

Patterns of Activity over Time

Networks of @Replies

(short/long term)

Tweet Texts

Keyword /Key PhraseMapping

Key Tools

• Data capture:– Twapperkeeper / yourTwapperkeeper

• Follow and capture all tweets including set keywords• Export in standardised CSV / TSV format

• Data processing:– Gawk

• Process CSV / TSV files – filter, extract, summarise

– Excel• Statistical analysis and graphing

• Data visualisation:– Gephi

• Static and dynamic network visualisation

#hashtag- / Keyword-Based Datasets

• Hashtags:– Crises and other unforeseen acute events – #qldfloods, #spill– Foreseeable short-term events – #royalwedding, #comtech2011– Longer-term and periodic events – #ausvotes, #qanda– Hashtag communities – #auspol, #phdchat– Ironic and emotive hashtags – #winning, #fail– Hashtag memes – #ThanksGetUp, #tweetlikecharliesheen

• Keywords:– Brands, celebrities, places – Qantas, Obama, Brisbane– Abbreviations and other unique identifiers – NATO, NBA, NCC1701– Markers for current themes – tsunami (vs. #tsunami)– Twitter user names – captures tweets mentioning them

• What’s missing:– Pre-filtering of matching tweets (e.g. by location of participating users)– Capture of follow-on communication (if not using those terms)– ‘Button’ retweets – not currently captured by yourTwapperkeeper

#ausvotes: Overall Activity (17 July – 24 Aug. 2010)

#ausvotes: Mentions of the Leaders

#ausvotes: Mentions of the Leaders (cumulative)

Keyword Co-Occurrence

#ausvotes: Key Themes

#ausvotes: Discussion Network17 July to 25 Aug. 2010 / All @replies / Node size: Indegree / Node colour: betweenness centrality

Dynamic @reply Network Visualisations

• Dynamic visualisation:– Showing @replies / retweets as they are made– Connections fading again after a set timeframe, unless

renewed– Network structure either fixed or dynamically adjusted

• Rudd/Gillard leadership challenge, 23 June 2010:– #spill discussion – from first rumours to confirmed challenge– Visualised for 18:00 to midnight

– see dynamic animation on Mapping Online Publics

Twitter and the 22 Feb. Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz

22/2 23 24 25 26 27 28 1/3 23 4 5 6 7

Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz @replies

mainstream media

authorities

utilities

Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: tweet types

Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: tweet types

Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz @replies

• Changing @reply patterns with the move from rescue to recovery:

22-24 Feb. 2011 25 Feb. - 3 Mar. 2011retweets @replies retweets @replies

nzherald 5748 713 CEQgovtnz 3349 121NZStuff 1736 312 nzherald 2227 447AnthonyBaxter 1590 62 ChristchurchCC 1830 272TVNZnews 1503 208 NZcivildefence 561 72georgedarroch 1399 55 NZStuff 532 173TelecomNZ 1289 592 NewstalkZB 431 43abcnews 1131 127 operationSAFE 399 547StephenFry 1094 44 nz_quake 350 22vodafonenz 1071 559 TelecomNZ 314 163CEQgovtnz 689 137 VMGiving 277 9rgoodchild 577 125 NZTopModelColin 271 128ChristchurchCC 573 211 georgedarroch 270 6NewstalkZB 554 44 NZRedCross 268 207SocialMedia_NZ 491 26 eqnz_live 240 29HuffingtonPost 478 25 3NewsNZ 200 28

Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz Themes

Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz Themes

Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake

• Towards better strategies for social media in disasters:– February 2011 earthquake building on lessons learnt in 2010

• #eqnz and key Twitter accounts already established

• Several key accounts sharing the load and dividing responsibilities

– More experienced use of Twitter by residents and authorities

• Clear shift in attention after the immediate rescue phase:– Marked differences in list of most @replied/retweeted accounts

– Some tracking of current problems / issues / fears may be possible

– Decline in overall tweet volume / diversification of #hashtags?

And now for something... – #royalwedding

...completely different – ‘Qantas’: @replies + #hashtags

Understanding Australian Twitter Use

• What is the Australian Twitter userbase?– Large-scale snowballing project– Starting from selected hashtag communities

(e.g. #ausvotes, #qldfloods, #masterchef)– Identifying participating users, testing for ‘Australianness’:

• Timezone setting, location information, profile information

– Retrieving follower/followee information for each account (very slow)

• Progress update:– ~550,000 Australian users identified so far

South Australia

Wine

Music

Football (soccer)

Football (rugby)Sports

Media, Journalism,

Politics

Twitter Celebrities

Follower/followee network:~40,000 Australian Twitter users(of ~440,000 known accounts so far) in-degree 20+, dark lines = mutual,colour = indegree, size = outdegree

Business, PR, Marketing

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

@snurb_dot_info@jeanburgess

Image by campoalto