Slides created for the ODU Computer Science PhD gathering held on November 14, 2023.

1. Evaluating Social Media Reach via
Mainstream Media Discourse
Advisors:
Dr. Michele C. Weigle and Dr. Michael L. Nelson
Web Science & Digital Libraries Research Group
Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA, USA
@WebSciDL, @oducs
Presented By:
Himarsha R. Jayanetti
@HimarshaJ
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ODU Computer Science PhD Gathering, November 14, 2023

2. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
About Me
Schoolattended
Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Ordinary Level Examination, 2009 & Advanced Level Examination, 2012
Jan, 2004 - Aug, 2012
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Bachelor of Engineering
Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Aug, 2013 - Mar, 2017
NetworkEngineer
Exetel Telecommunications (Pvt) Ltd, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Jul, 2017 - Jul, 2019
Master’s in ComputerScience
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA
Aug, 2019 - May, 2023
PhD in Computer Science
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, USA
Aug, 2020 - Present
https://ws-dl.blogspot.com/2020/01/2020-01-01-himarsha-jayanetti-computer.html

3. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
Current Status in the PhD Program
https://ws-dl.blogspot.com/2023/06/2023-06-15-milestone-achieved.html 3
● Fall 2019: Joined ODU as an MS (thesis) student in CS.
Advisors: Dr. Weigle and Dr. Nelson
● Fall 2020: Enrolled in the ODU PhD program in CS.
Advisors: Dr. Weigle and Dr. Nelson
● Spring 2022: Completed PhD breadth course
requirements.
● Spring 2023: Defended my MS thesis and completed
my PhD candidacy requirements.
WS-DL PhD Crush Board

4. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
Many Studies Assess the Impact of Social
Media - but They Are Platform-bound
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5. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
Research Exists Examining the Dynamics of
Cross-platform Posting
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6. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
TV Provides Reach Beyond Social Media Subscribers
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https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/110833185720203438 https://archive.org/details/MSNBCW_20230808_010000_
The_Rachel_Maddow_Show/start/1980/end/2040
@realDonaldTrump post on Truth Social
The same post on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show
● Truth Social - 2M monthly active users (as of Sep, 2023)
● As of Nov 13, 2023,
○ @realDonaldTrump - 6.48M Followers
○ Post - 17k ReTruths and 49.9k Likes
● MSNBC - 1.22M average primetime viewers (as of Sep, 2023)
● The Rachel Maddow Show - 3.9M viewers (as of Aug, 2023)

7. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
Internet Archive TV News Offers Access to Clips From
2.61M US Broadcast Shows Dating Back to 2009
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https://archive.org/details/tv
https://archive.org/details/tv?q=“truth%20social”
We have the ability to
query the clips using
closed captions!

8. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
Social Media Can Be Mentioned in Mainstream
News Media Across Various Contexts
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Stories ABOUT social media Using social media posts for
EVIDENCE/CONTEXT
And others, like mentioning
social media in passing and
interactive campaigns!

9. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Bud_Light_boycott
Where Do Some of These Mentions Fall on
the Spectrum?
2023 Bud Light Boycott
https://www.instagram.com/p/CqgTftujqZc/
● Dylan Mulvaney, a TikTok personality,
who identifies as a transgender woman.
● She promoted the Bud Light beer brand
in a sponsored video in Instagram

10. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
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Display of Social Media Post on Screen Without Verbal
Commentary From the Anchor
● Social media screenshot is up
on the screen. However, the
platform name is not
explicitly mentioned by the
anchor during the news
reporting.
● Only visual cue, unable to
detect this easily just by
using closed captions
Truth Social
Twitter/X

11. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
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Blue Sky is → Blue Skies is TikTok → tick, tock
Errors in Closed Captions May Result in
Words Conveying Different Meanings

12. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
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Logo is a Huge Clue, but Not Always!
A TikTok video on screen, but the logo of
TikTok is not on the screen
Twitter/X screenshot is posted on Instagram, both the Twitter/X
logo as well as the Instagram logo is present on the screen

13. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
13
Current Progress and Next Steps
● Building a gold standard dataset by manually watching the shows:
○ A random day - Monday, September 18, 2023
○ Annotated primetime (8:00 PM-11:00 PM) shows on both MSNBC and FOX NEWS
○ Annotated evening news shows on the Big Three (NBC, CBS, and ABC).
○ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XiQFWi1pXyELtR5kymnFtspaDAXyI9iqeJ2A3ZN-je4/edit?usp=sharing
● Documenting the insights gained from building the dataset:
○ Different types of corner cases with examples
○ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XRTkyLAhNTbESyUYaUpRBy6-WNeCWPUxgQCVEyRLv2A/edit?usp=sharing
● Automating the process of identifying the social media mentions on TV news.
○ Through closed captions
○ Through video
■ Obtaining images from news video clips by using tools like TV Visual Explorer
■ OCR on images to obtain on screen text
■ Object detection - such as social media screenshots and logos
● Identifying metrics to quantify the social media coverage on TV news
○ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YjScR6fAKzMsRZEr4VtlAu3NMBRNhmHADaCXXLFUKPs/edit?usp=sharin
g

14. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
Key Takeaways
● Evaluating social media reach via mainstream media discourse.
● Internet Archive’s TV News Archive offers access to clips from
2.61M US broadcast shows dating back to 2009 which can be
queries using closed captions.
● Challenges:
○ Many types of social media mentions are available - about
social media, as evidence or to provide more context, &
etc.
○ It is difficult to categorize some of the mentions of social
media.
○ Sometimes there is only visual cues to a social media
mention so it makes it challenging to detect these by only
using closed captions.
○ There can be errors in closed captions.
○ While logo is a huge clue in detecting social media
screenshots on TV news, it may not always be the case.
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Stories ABOUT social media
Using social media posts for
EVIDENCE/CONTEXT
Internet Archive’s TV
News Archive allows
querying the clips
using closed captions!
Blue Sky is → Blue Skies is
TikTok → tick, tock

15. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
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Backup Slides

16. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
What Types of Data Do We Currently Have
Access to?
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Clips from U.S. broadcast shows (Internet
Archive)
Clips (60 secs each) from 2,610,000 U.S.
broadcast shows since 2009
Images of TV news every 4 seconds (GDELT) Full resolution screen capture of a single frame
taken every 4 seconds throughout the entire
course of the broadcast.
Closed captions (Internet Archive) Closed captions for each clip throughout the
entire course of the broadcast.
TV News chyrons (Internet Archive) The Third Eye API OCR the lower third of the
TV screen to obtain the text for TV news
chyrons

17. @HimarshaJ @WebSciDL PhD Gathering, Fall 2023
TV Visual Explorer
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https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tvv/tvv?id=MSNBCW_20230919_000000_All_In_With_Chris_Hayes