Key Events in Australian (Micro-)Blogging during 2010

Key Events in Australian (Micro-)Bloggingduring 2010
Axel Bruns / Jean Burgess
ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, Brisbane
a.bruns@qut.edu.au – @snurb_dot_info
je.burgess@qut.edu.au – @jeanburgesshttp://mappingonlinepublics.net – http://cci.edu.au/
Thomas Nicolai / Lars Kirchhoff
Sociomantic Labs, Berlin
thomas.nicolai@sociomantic.com / lars.kirchhoff@sociomantic.com
http://sociomantic.com/

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 3
Social network sources:
YouTube
Flickr
Twitter
blogs
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
Research tools:
network crawler
content scraper
content analysis
network analysis

Methodology – Blogs

Analysis – Blogs

Blog Network (between known blogs only)(~8500 blogs / 17 July to 25 Aug. 2010 / All page links / Node size: Indegree)
parenting
politics
food
arts & crafts
design and style

Change of Plans: Leadership #spill and #ausvotes Election
23 June, 18:00-00:00:Speculation
24 June, 07:00-15:00:Party Vote & Aftermath

Methodology – Twapperkeeper

Analysis – Twapperkeeper

#spill Discussion Network

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

Keyword Co-Occurrence

#ausvotes: Mentions of the Leaders

#ausvotes: Mentions of the Leaders (cumulative)

#ausvotes: Key Themes

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

Notes and Limitations
Twapperkeeper relies on #hashtags
Problem if #hashtags are inconsistent/unclear
Follow-on @replies and retweets may not continue to use #hashtags
Casual commenters may not use #hashtags in the first place
May miss early developments – e.g. #hashtag standardisation
Twitter as a subset of society:
Broadband policy and Internet filter over-, asylum seekers underrepresented
#hashtag use is a further sign of self-selection
Need to look to Twitterfirehose for more comprehensive picture
Need to track baseline activity to understand how exceptional #ausvotes was
See more at mappingonlinepublics.net – up next: time-based animations...
Or find us at @snurb_dot_info and @jeanburgess

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Key Events in Australian (Micro-)Blogging during 2010

by Axel Bruns

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