Podcasts about social media research

Dr. Johan Farkas and Dr. Marcus Maloney discuss how the language used to describe digital media frames our understanding and the actions of policymakers. We break down how terms like "toxic", "trolls", and "filter bubbles" are often used uncritically and limit how we understand the relationships between digital media and social problems like misogyny, racism, and harassment. Here's a link to the book discussed in the episode: Digital Media Metaphors: A Critical Introduction (2024)

Although I love this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt - “No one can make me feel inferior without my consent" - I must say that teen girls are struggling right now and need help. In 2023 a large study, The Girls' Index⁠, reported compelling data on girls in the U.S. It was the largest national survey of its kind, with 17,502 girls participating. Researchers collected data for the first time in 2017 and then again in 2023. They explored things that would help anyone who influences girls (e.g., parents, family members, teachers, coaches, religious youth leaders) better understand girls' thoughts, experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. The researchers partnered with schools nationwide to survey girls in 5th through 12th grades. The results linking confidence and social media are convincing., and I share those and other thoughts in this episode. Listen in! Resources: The Girls' Index: https://www.rulingourexperiences.com/research A Future Only God Can See for You (chapters on confidence and social media): https://www.amazon.com/stores/Susan-R.-Madsen/author/B001JSJNK0?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

How has consumer research evolved since the advent of social media? Can social media drive insights, or do we still need interviews and focus groups? We speak with Wang Tao, who is the Head of Strategy & Innovation for the Shanghai-based agency Target Social. Target Social is China's largest full-service social performance consultancy, providing a complete range of services that help brands take control of their social media investment.

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Prof. Sebastian Stier, Scientific Director of Computational Social Science at GESIS and Professor of CSS at the University of Mannheim, discusses how web tracking data can inform social science questions.  We discuss the data structure of web browsing data, how it is collected, and the types of incentives used to recruit participants. Prof. Stier also shares his insights and research integrating web browsing data with survey data, as well as how LLMs are opening up new methodological avenues in simulated data.Here are the resources mentioned in the episode: Analysis of Web Browsing Data: A Guide (2023)Integrating Survey Data and Digital Trace Data: Key Issues in Developing an Emerging Field (2020)Post Post-Broadcast Democracy? News Exposure in the Age of Online Intermediaries (2022)The two R packages: webtrackR and adaR

Social media has become a major industry over the past decade and a big influence in the advertising industry. Which is keeping our next guest and his students busy at an Upstate university. Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Brandon Boatwright, director of the Social Media Listening Center at Clemson University.

SEGMENT ONE – 8:10 a.m. GUEST: Dr. Matthew Taylor, assistant professor in the MTSU School of Journalism and Strategic Media TOPIC: Taylor’s social media research

In this episode, it's just me! I present a recently published study, co-authored with Rasmus Schmøkel and published in Political Communication, that analyzes US Presidential campaigns' emotion expression across Facebook and Instagram. I'll explain the theoretical backdrop of the study, give an overview of the state-of-the-art on visual political communication, and communicate the study's methods and key results. Hope you enjoy this one-on-one episode! Here's a link to the study (feel free to share around): Cross-Platform Emotions in Social Media Political Campaigning: Comparing Candidates' Facebook and Instagram Images in the 2020 US Election (2022)  

Dr. Tom Paskhalis, Assistant Professor in Political and Data Science at Trinity College Dublin, shares his research on applying machine learning to the Facebook URLs Dataset from Social Science One. The project develops a model to label whether a news domain is credible or not based on Facebook interactions data. We discuss the Facebook URLs dataset, what types of machine learning techniques were applied to it, and how the model performed across the US and EU countries. 

During this episode, Coach Jenny interviews Meaghan Terzis about her insane growth in social media and business. This inspiring mom of two dives into her fitness journey from competing and modeling to essential oils and online courses. Like many of us, Meaghan pivoted during the pandemic leading her to help women own back their health by launching her first digital course. This fitness legend spills all the tea on her massive growth on Instagram going from 8k followers to over 45k in less than 5 months. Tune in so you can discover how to leverage social media in your favor.  If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating  and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser and Castbox. STRONG Fitness Magazine Subscription Use discount code STRONGGIRLResourcesSTRONG Fitness MagazineSTRONG Fitness Magazine on IGTeam Strong GirlsCoach JVBFollow Jenny on social mediaInstagramFacebookYouTube 

Dr. Jakob Ohme, Senior Researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute, discusses his research on mobile news consumption. Dr. Ohme breaks down how exposure to political news on a smartphone might differ from a desktop, and he breaks down results from a recent eye-tracking study exploring the topic. We also discuss how smartphones can be used for data collection, through Dr. Ohme's research using a smartphone media diary as well as data from the iOS Screen Time function. The studies discussed in the episode are: Mobile News Learning: Investigating Political Knowledge Gains in a Social Media Newsfeed with Mobile Eye Tracking (2021)Mobile Data Donations: Assessing Self-report Accuracy and Sample Biases with the iOS Screen Time Function (2020)Mobile but Not Mobilized? Differential Gains from Mobile News Consumption for Citizens' Political Knowledge and Campaign Participation (2020)

Dr. Tamar Mitts, Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, shares her research on ISIS radicalization and it's relationship to social isolation, anti-Muslim sentiment, and counter-extremism programs. We discuss Dr. Mitts' Twitter dataset that uses spatial algorithms to identify ISIS sympathizers' locations and machine learning to identify pro-ISIS sentiment. Toward the end of the episode, we discuss how computer vision tools such as Amazon's Rekognition API can be used to detect violent imagery in ISIS propaganda. Here are the studies we discuss in the episode: From Isolation to Radicalization: Anti-Muslim Hostility and Support for ISIS in the West  (2019)Countering Violent Extremism and Radical Rhetoric (2021)Studying the Impact of ISIS Propaganda Campaigns (Forthcoming)

Kitchen Timer Cube on Amazon If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating  and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser and Castbox.  Sign up for the next DAC Bootcamp  Follow me on Social Media:Amy on IGAmy on Facebook  Resources:AmyLedin.comLean Bodies Consulting (LBC)LBC University  Amy Ledin Bio: The Co-Owner and Operator at Lean Bodies Consulting. Amy Ledin has been in the online wellness space for over a decade. Her coaching in this space has led to her passion in helping women build strong personal integrity. Fighting cancer for now close to 7 years, Amy loves sharing her mindset hacks and strategies that helped her through her fight to not just be a survivor, but an overcomer. 

Professor Chris Bail, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Duke University, discusses his latest book Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing. Professor Bail shares findings from three studies on political polarization covering field-experiments, qualitative interviews, and lab experiments. We discuss how social media contributes to a distorted reality in how extremists and moderates discuss politics online, and how this prism fosters a sense false polarization. We also chat about measures that individuals and social media platforms could take to reduce online political polarization. Here are supplementary links to two studies discussed in the episode: Exposure to Opposing Views on Social Media can Increase Political Polarization (2019)Political Sectarianism in America (2020)

Martin Hilbert, Professor of Communication at UC-Davis, discusses his research on algorithms and polarization. Prof. Hilbert introduces information theory and how it can be applied to studying the transfer of emotions via algorithms. We break down some of Prof. Hilbert's recent studies, as well as his current thinking around detaching from social algorithms.The studies discussed in the episode:Behavioral Experiments With Social Algorithms: An Information Theoretic Approach to Input-Output ConversionsDo Search Algorithms Endanger Democracy? An Experimental Investigation of Algorithm Effects on Political PolarizationCommunicating with Algorithms: A Transfer Entropy Analysis of Emotions-based Escapes from Online Echo ChambersProf. Hilbert's seven part Medium series on Social Media Distancing. 

It's social moments and trends that let us understand audience intent. It's rising interests and topics that enable us to align and drive brand in the category. And it's changing behaviour that identifies triggers and motivations we can influence.  Hence, we are always looking at the data. We're used to surprises, but never more so than when we saw Christmas was trending in summer!  Website: http://www.immediatefuture.co.uk Social profiles: ·       YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/IFTubes ·       Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImmediateFuture/ ·       LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/immediate-future/ ·       Twitter: https://twitter.com/iftweeter ·       Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifinstas/ Katy - Taking a better look, it turns out it's not just a spike of memes or jokes across a few days.  In fact, over the last 90 days in the UK, there have been 525K mentions of Christmas on social according to Brandwatch. An astonishing 1423% up on the previous 3 months – which actually includes December and Christmas last year! Why is it that the holiday season has grabbed our attention? What is driving the conversation – surely no one is already planning the festivities? Well, Pinterest data shows that whilst people usually start making plans in September. This year they've started searching and saving for Christmas much earlier. Searches on Pinterest this April jumped 77% higher than April 2019.What does this tell us about our consumers? Is it signals to help plan Q4 or has Christmas come early and we need to move fast to capture the opportunity?I'm going to share three findings that you can action now. But if you want all the detail then at the end, I'll also share a link to our insights report with all the data on what Christmas in July really means! For full show notes, view our podcast page: http://immediatefuture.co.uk/podcasts/

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Introducing Mintel's 2030 Global Consumer Trends! Today, we're taking a closer look at the 7 Drivers and how they will impact consumer behaviour over the next 10 years: wellbeing, surroundings, technology, rights, identity, value, and experiences. It's not (ony) about predicting the future, but anticipating what will matter to consumers in the next one, five and 10 years, from their individual needs to their hopes, concerns, and expectations. Host: Samantha Dover (Senior Research Analyst, UK) Guest: Simon Moriarty (EMEA Director of Mintel Trends), Gabrielle Lieberman (Director of Trends and Social Media Research, Americas), Matthew Crabbe (Regional Trends Director, Asia-Pacific)

Researchers at Juniper Networks have been tracking a trojan they call Masad Stealer, which uses the Telegram instant messaging platform for part it its command and control infrastructure. (Telegram wasn't hacked; it's the innocent conduit.) Mounir Hahad is head of Juniper Threat Labs at Juniper Networks and he joins us to share their findings The original research is here: https://forums.juniper.net/t5/Threat-Research/Masad-Stealer-Exfiltrating-using-Telegram/ba-p/468559 The CyberWire's Research Saturday is presented by Juniper Networks. Thanks to our sponsor Enveil, closing the last gap in data security.

What is the future of social research? Will it continue to live within the market research discipline or become a discipline of its own? Who better to ask than Dr. Jillian Ney, the UK’s first Dr. of Social Media. Listen as Jillian talks about the importance of social research, how it has evolved, and where it’s headed in the future. She also talks about the Social Intelligence Lab, which she created for those in the social research field, and the Digital Intelligence Council, which strives to drive the social intelligence industry forward, establish ethical data analysis practices, and improve the value of social data analysis. Jillian would love to connect with you! We encourage you to engage with her online and keep tabs on her work: Dr. Jillian Ney's website  Connect on LinkedIn Connect on Twitter We also invite you to learn more about initiatives Dr. Ney is working on: The Social Intelligence Lab The Digital Intelligence Council Listen Now: Dr. Jillian Ney Talks About the Future of Social Research

Perceptions of the past and future, in relation to marketing, are often conflicting. Some people dread the future and its inevitable robo-takeover, while clinging to oft-antiquated traditions. Others are gung-ho over the latest bells and whistles, trend-hopping from new thing to new thing. In this episode of Ponderings from the Perch, Priscilla talks with Ray Poynter about how we fit in the still-developing timeline of market research. As Ray says, there's room for both enthusiasm for the future and a retention of traditional values: "Probably my niche in the market is that I’m a very cynical lover of the new. So, yes, I do like new things, but I’m not easily swayed.  I’ve got a very good grounding in the traditional aspects of applying the science; applying methodology and seeing where things fit. I’m much more interested in how they work than how shiny they are." Ray is the founder of NewMR, author of "The Handbook of Online and Social Media Research," and "The Handbook of Mobile Market Research," and the editor of ESOMAR's book "Answers to Contemporary Market Research Questions." He's also a prolific writer with 40 years of expertise in market research and innovation. Priscilla and Ray discuss changes in insights, legitimacy of new innovation, and what's on the horizon for the future of market research. Find Ray at NewMR, LinkedIn, or Twitter to read more of his insights. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review Ponderings from the Perch on iTunes! This episode is sponsored by GreenBook. Hosted in beautiful Amsterdam, GreenBook’s IIeX Europe is all about new ideas, new approaches and new connections in market research and insights. Sounds amazing, right? It gets better. One of the most stand-out parts of IIeX is the focus on startups and how they are challenging the status quo in the market research space. The event hosts the Startup Track and Insight Innovation Competition, bringing new, cutting-edge companies and ideas to the stage. Join the brightest and boldest minds in market research, all under one roof. Attendees will be in great company with speakers from Heineken, IFF, Samsung, and Danone. For the full lineup and registration details, click here. Oh, and register with the promo code LITTLEBIRD to save 20%! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, Matt brings on one of Top Advisor's inhouse social media expert, Julia Ritchie to share her recent findings on updates to all our of major Social Media Platforms. Julia has an advanced degree in digital media and communications, and has been an important addition to our team. With changes to everything from user interface, to ad formats and new features, Julia and Matt explore the changes that will be impacting your summer social media experience. If you're interested insuring that your posts continue to please the algorithm, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Where does the line in digital ethics reside? As the number of social media users grows, so does the amount of data generated. This user-generated data includes sensitive and private details about people’s daily lives. The details can be used to uncover valuable information about trends in human behavior. As these social and technological spheres converge, ethical concerns about the manner in which the data are collected, analyzed, and ultimately used and disseminated by companies, researchers, and the government arise. Tim K. Mackey, MAS, PhD highlights some of these challenges from the perspective of a researcher exploring the social media risk environment for prescription drug abuse. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Public Affairs] [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 32771]

Where does the line in digital ethics reside? As the number of social media users grows, so does the amount of data generated. This user-generated data includes sensitive and private details about people’s daily lives. The details can be used to uncover valuable information about trends in human behavior. As these social and technological spheres converge, ethical concerns about the manner in which the data are collected, analyzed, and ultimately used and disseminated by companies, researchers, and the government arise. Tim K. Mackey, MAS, PhD highlights some of these challenges from the perspective of a researcher exploring the social media risk environment for prescription drug abuse. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Public Affairs] [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 32771]

On today's Internet Marketing Podcast, Andy is joined by Jay Baer, President of Convince & Convert, Host of the Social Pros Podcast, Author & Inductee into the World-of-Mouth Marketing Hall of Fame to talk about social media and the unexpected trends in 2018. On the show you'll learn: How the usage of social media channels in the USA has started to decrease overallWhy Facebook usage is down for the first time Some of the reasons young people aren't using FacebookWhy other platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat are outperforming FacebookHow this will impact advertising on Facebook Plus as usual, Jay provides his top tip/key takeaway for the audience. If you'd like to connect with Jay you can find him on Twitter here, on Facebook here and on LinkedIn here. You can find his post on the 6 Unexpected Trends in 2018 Social Media Research here. Plus, you can listen to his podcast here.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this podcast episode, Tatiana Tosi talks about how social media research plays into netnography and understanding how to engage with and market to online communities. Influencer marketing is also discussed (hint: it's not what you think it is)... Want to connect with Tati? She'd love to hear from you! You can find Tati on LinkedIn & Twitter. Listen: Social Media in Netnography & Influencer Marketing

“The web is the biggest focus group in the world.” No truer words have been said. Listen as Michalis Michael from Digital MR shares three ways social media research can be incorporated into traditional research methods. He also shares tips on what to look for in a social listening platform and shares his insight into why social listening has taken so long to become a standard research tool. If you are interested in learning more about market research and Digital MR, I encourage you to visit their website at digital-mr.com. You can also find them on Twitter at @DigitalMR and @DigitalMR_CEO . Listen: Social Media Research Tips & Advice

Big ups to FitKit for supporting the podcast this week. FitKit offers a number of different wellness products for both mind and body that make healthy living SIMPLE! I love their products and live by them when on the road. All of the kits are portable and packable, fit right in a carry on and most come with bands and tubes, a jump rope, 250 exercises and other great tools and resources. No excuses, especially when they include a 6 week nutrition and fitness plan as well as 24/7 email access to their dietitians and trainers! All the kits range in price from $10-$40 but if you use the code FTN, you get 20% during the month of January. Whichever kit you chose, you can take comfort in knowing they have been created by fitness, nutrition and wellness experts with the sole purpose helping you get healthy and fit. Not only are the FitKits great for individuals, but every organization should get these for their employees or clients. Each Kit can be fully branded with your logo, they offer volume pricing and starting at just $4, there is a FitKit for every budget. Companies like Keurig, Marriott, Dell New York Presbyterian Hospital among others have branded the FitKit products as a creative way to encourage health while at the same time promoting their brand. Win – Win. The best part: people love receiving them! Learn more at fitkit.com. Check them out. I love them.   Welcome to another episode of Faster Than Normal! Happy that you're here! We're talking this week with Lyle Ungar and Sharath Chandra Guntuku about their study: "Language of ADHD in Adults on Social Media". Lyle is a Professor of Computer and Information Science at The University of Pennsylvania. His current research focuses on developing scalable machine learning methods for data mining and text mining,including deep learning methods for natural language processing, and analysis of social media to better understand the drivers of physical and mental well-being. Sharath is a post-doctoral researcher in the Perelman School of Medicine and in the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Penn, he completed his PhD studies on building machine learning algorithms to model users' personality in multimedia preferences at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His current research aims to leverage large-scale social media image and text data to model social health outcomes and psychological traits. SHOW NOTES: 1:18 FitKit.com 2:17 Welcome and Introductions 3:18 How did you get the idea for the study “What can Twitter reveal about people with ADHD”? 4:18 Twitter, dopamine, posting and an immediate gratification connection? 5:17 Time condensing and ‘slow media' among teens 6:34 Mood swings and possible self-regulating online? Language and nuances 8:09 Immediate feedback loops 9:05 Downtime. Typing with purpose. Condition-specific Apps? 10:20 Bombwords, double-check delay and e-tools 12:35 No mirriors yet in Social Media. Yet. 13:07 Many different types of ADHD and what Social Media can tell us 15:00 If the goal is to better understand the condition, then what's next? 16:15 What some Social Media Research shows and will we see a shift once people with ADHD understand how to use it for Good? 18:00. How can we follow your research. the World Well Being Project www.WWBP.org 18:45. Thank you! 19:05 Outros

Private investigators use social media & online research to enhance their cases, learn more about people of interest and players in a case. Listen as Deb Salerno, Social Media Specialist from eChatter talks about how social media and online content plays into an investigation. Listen: eChatter Social Media Research and Investigation

Listen as Mark Michelson, owner of Threads Qualitative Research talks about using social media research in conjunction with more traditional market research methodologies. Mark also shares information on a new study that is in the works – Changing Channels -  that you will want to check out. Listen: When Traditional Market Research Meets Social Media Research

Listen as Rich Groom & JD McKee from Sparks Research share tips and best practices on using traditional research findings to launch social media research to learn even more about their customers, identify influencers, and maximize marketing efforts and messaging. Social media research is an excellent tool to drill into traditional market research findings and brings an entirely new dimension of information. Listen here: Enhance Your Traditional Marketing Research With Social Research

Description: I love a great focus group, but sometimes there is no time or budget for focus groups as a Phase 1 prior to a survey research Phase 2? Social media research can be the solution.

Podcast Episode: Identifying Your Audience using Social Media Research How well do you know your customer demographics? Could you benefit from learning more about their likes and dislikes? Find out how to use social media analytics to your advantage. Listen now: Identify Your Audience Through Social Media Research

Podcast Episode: What is Social Media Research? This podcast scratches the surface explaining what social media research is and how it is currently being used by marketers, businesses, and researchers. Listen now: What is Social Media Research?

Find out what this new research proves about feeling leftout when using social media. This study was done in partnership with Proverbs 31 ministries. 

Professor Susan Halford, Director Web Science Institute, University of Southampton, gives a talk on using social social media for research. The phenomenal growth of Web-based social media data provokes great interest and activity from researchers across a range of disciplines. For most, if not all, the lure of these data is that they offer important insights into the social world: digital traces of the things that people say and do in everyday life, at scale, in real time and over time. However, in the emergent field of social media analysis the challenges of working with these data are becoming increasingly apparent. This lecture outlined the disciplinary, methodological and ethical challenges of working with social media data and explored some of the routes through which these might be addressed

Presented by Jean Burgess and Axel Bruns on 15th August 2014.This presentation outlines the emerging challenges for social media research in Australia, presents the current state of the field, and outlines the research agenda of the TrISMA project. In particular, we highlight the key practical, conceptual, methodological, and ethical issues which the project will need to address as it advances our current collective capabilities for conducting computationally-enabled social media research.

As part of a National Science Foundation grant received by the Educational Development Corporation in Massachusetts, Mike and I have been involved with a group of small business social media experts from around the country defining a step-by-step social media process for Social Technology Enabled Professionals. These small business people build, maintain, manage and leverages online social networks to engage with customers, business partners, employees and key influencers with the goal of building organizational success.  In this podcast, we cover part one of the first duty and discuss some of the tasks involved. 

Carl Miller discusses development of effective social media research for policy making during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. A team of CASM staff and experts used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to develop (a) a predictive analytic to predict the outcome of each week's vote on X-Factor based on social media users' conversations online, and (b) a real-time visualization of the audience's reaction to each contestant as they sang. The predictive analytic modelled two underlying variables: voter sentiment and voter sediment. This is based on the psephological insight that people can vote either due to the 'sediment' of a longer-term and established loyalty for a contestant, or on the short-term 'appraisal' of their immediate performance. The sediment score combined a cumulative volume 'positive' comments on Twitter with Facebook likes. The sentiment score combined twitter sentiment (positive over positive + negative) and YouTube likes-per-view. Recursive best-fit analysis was conducted to get the best weightings for these variables. The predictive analytic made 11 predictions. Nine were correct. The engine producing the real-time visualization collected X-factor relevant tweets and sorted them by contestant. They were then classified using a natural language processing engine into positive, negative and neutral categories. Positive was divided by negative and averaged within a two-second time window to produce a candidate score and then mapped onto constantly updating graph. The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos is a research body dedicated to inform policymaking through social media research. Computer and social scientists at CASM work together to find new methods to do this that are reliable, powerful and ethical.

Luke Sloan discusses space-time as a sampling condition for new social media research during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. This brief talk introduces some of the issues that social scientists will have to contend with when applying traditional terrestrial modes of analysis to social media data. Based on the potential user requirements of the platform being developed at the Cardiff Online Social Media ObServatory (COSMOS), this talk reviews the need to reconceptualise sampling, demographics, geography and the temporal dimension with reference to naturally occurring locomotive data.

Panos Panagiotopoulos discusses use of Twitter in UK local government during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. Panos Panagiotopoulos presents part of a project on UK local government microblogging, a practice which has become a significant element of the public sector social media agenda. Many authorities in the UK have created Twitter accounts in an effort to update the public with frequent, concise and real-time content. The broader study described in the video is based on a study of Twitter accounts maintained by 187 officially listed UK local government authorities. Over 296,000 tweets were collected and analysed in two stages: an examination of the Twitter networks developed by the accounts was followed by a structural analysis of the tweets. The combination of online data collection and social media analytics techniques enabled us to reach important conclusions about the use of Twitter by local authorities. The findings indicate high level of maturity of Twitter in the UK local government and point to several directions for further increasing the impact and visibility of those accounts within a social media strategy. We particularly identified the importance of Twitter as an information sharing and engagement channel during unexpected events such as the 2011 riots and adverse weather conditions.

Patty Kostkova discusses Twitter-based early warning and risk communication of the 2009 swine flu pandemic during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. The need to improve global population monitoring and enhance surveillance of infectious diseases has never been more pressing. Factors such as air travel act as a catalyst in the spread of new and novel viruses. The unprecedented user-generated activity on social networks and online media over the last few years has created real time streams of personal user data which provides an invaluable tool for monitoring and sampling large populations. Epidemic Intelligence relays on the constant monitoring of online media sources for early warning, detection and rapid response; however, the real-time information available in social networks provides a new model of monitoring populations and enhancing the early warning function. The communication of risk in any public health emergencies is a complex task for government and healthcare agencies. This task is made more challenging in the current situation when citizens are confronted with a wide range of online resources, ranging from traditional news outlets to information posted on blogs and social networks. Inevitably, some have greater scientific veracity than others. Twitter is an information source but is also a central hub for the publishing, dissemination, and finding out about online media. In our study, we investigated the role of Twitter during the swine flu pandemics in 2009 from two perspectives. Firstly, we demonstrated the role of the social network to detect an upcoming spike in an epidemic before the official surveillance systems - up to week in the UK and up to 2-3 weeks in the US. Secondly, we illustrated how online resources are propagated through Twitter, and that there is a focus on identifying trusted information sources at the time of the WHO's declaration of the swine flu 'pandemic'. Our findings indicate that Twitter does favour reputable sources but that bogus information can still leak into the network.

Patty Kostkova discusses Twitter-based early warning and risk communication of the 2009 swine flu pandemic during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. The need to improve global population monitoring and enhance surveillance of infectious diseases has never been more pressing. Factors such as air travel act as a catalyst in the spread of new and novel viruses. The unprecedented user-generated activity on social networks and online media over the last few years has created real time streams of personal user data which provides an invaluable tool for monitoring and sampling large populations. Epidemic Intelligence relays on the constant monitoring of online media sources for early warning, detection and rapid response; however, the real-time information available in social networks provides a new model of monitoring populations and enhancing the early warning function. The communication of risk in any public health emergencies is a complex task for government and healthcare agencies. This task is made more challenging in the current situation when citizens are confronted with a wide range of online resources, ranging from traditional news outlets to information posted on blogs and social networks. Inevitably, some have greater scientific veracity than others. Twitter is an information source but is also a central hub for the publishing, dissemination, and finding out about online media. In our study, we investigated the role of Twitter during the swine flu pandemics in 2009 from two perspectives. Firstly, we demonstrated the role of the social network to detect an upcoming spike in an epidemic before the official surveillance systems - up to week in the UK and up to 2-3 weeks in the US. Secondly, we illustrated how online resources are propagated through Twitter, and that there is a focus on identifying trusted information sources at the time of the WHO's declaration of the swine flu 'pandemic'. Our findings indicate that Twitter does favour reputable sources but that bogus information can still leak into the network.

Panos Panagiotopoulos discusses use of Twitter in UK local government during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. Panos Panagiotopoulos presents part of a project on UK local government microblogging, a practice which has become a significant element of the public sector social media agenda. Many authorities in the UK have created Twitter accounts in an effort to update the public with frequent, concise and real-time content. The broader study described in the video is based on a study of Twitter accounts maintained by 187 officially listed UK local government authorities. Over 296,000 tweets were collected and analysed in two stages: an examination of the Twitter networks developed by the accounts was followed by a structural analysis of the tweets. The combination of online data collection and social media analytics techniques enabled us to reach important conclusions about the use of Twitter by local authorities. The findings indicate high level of maturity of Twitter in the UK local government and point to several directions for further increasing the impact and visibility of those accounts within a social media strategy. We particularly identified the importance of Twitter as an information sharing and engagement channel during unexpected events such as the 2011 riots and adverse weather conditions.

Luke Sloan discusses space-time as a sampling condition for new social media research during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. This brief talk introduces some of the issues that social scientists will have to contend with when applying traditional terrestrial modes of analysis to social media data. Based on the potential user requirements of the platform being developed at the Cardiff Online Social Media ObServatory (COSMOS), this talk reviews the need to reconceptualise sampling, demographics, geography and the temporal dimension with reference to naturally occurring locomotive data.

Carl Miller discusses development of effective social media research for policy making during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012. A team of CASM staff and experts used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to develop (a) a predictive analytic to predict the outcome of each week's vote on X-Factor based on social media users' conversations online, and (b) a real-time visualization of the audience's reaction to each contestant as they sang. The predictive analytic modelled two underlying variables: voter sentiment and voter sediment. This is based on the psephological insight that people can vote either due to the 'sediment' of a longer-term and established loyalty for a contestant, or on the short-term 'appraisal' of their immediate performance. The sediment score combined a cumulative volume 'positive' comments on Twitter with Facebook likes. The sentiment score combined twitter sentiment (positive over positive + negative) and YouTube likes-per-view. Recursive best-fit analysis was conducted to get the best weightings for these variables. The predictive analytic made 11 predictions. Nine were correct. The engine producing the real-time visualization collected X-factor relevant tweets and sorted them by contestant. They were then classified using a natural language processing engine into positive, negative and neutral categories. Positive was divided by negative and averaged within a two-second time window to produce a candidate score and then mapped onto constantly updating graph. The Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos is a research body dedicated to inform policymaking through social media research. Computer and social scientists at CASM work together to find new methods to do this that are reliable, powerful and ethical.

Hal King, Founder, Business Strategist with a BA at Stanford University and MBA, Harvard Business School Jon Wells, award winning designer,designer, writer, filmmaker and insightful brand strategist  Hal is KBP's founder and, not coincidentally, its chief analyst. He has an uncanny ability to see patterns in mounds of otherwise undifferentiated data, making sense out of disorder, insight out of chaos. Founded in 1992, King, Brown & Partners (KB&P) provides custom market research and marketing consulting services for clients in the technology, retail, pharmaceuticals, financial services and entertainment industries. The company's research and advice helps clients identify key customers, develop products, and build effective marketing campaigns. KB&P offers qualitative and quantitative research utilizing focus groups, in-depth interviews, and surveys as well as providing analysis of the results using such techniques as segmentation, perceptual mapping, predictive modeling, and regression. Clients have included Google, PG&E, AT&T, BMW, Autodesk, FedEx, NIKE, and Wells Fargo. http://www.kingbrown.com/ 

How to conduct statistically relevant social media research with Tom Smith, CEO & Founder of the Global Web Index, a market research company with technology at the heart. Tom shares best practices for determining global social media penetrations rates, what types of products and services are most talked about online and why marketing professionals trust… The post Social Media Research- Why We Trust Strangers Online appeared first on Eric Schwartzman.