Akshay Java, Xiaodan Song, Tim Finin, Belle Tseng. “Why We Twitter: Understanding Microblogging Usage and Communities”. http://aisl.umbc.edu/resources/369.pdf. Accessed 30 Aug. 2017.
Summary
In the paper “Why We Twitter: Understanding Microblogging Usage and Communities”, the author raises the question of why it is important to understand what microblogging is and how these tools are used. Twitter is described as one of the most common ways people microblog today, mainly due to its millions of users worldwide and ease of use. The paper primarily examines the characteristics of social activity and patterns of communication Twitter, an emerging class of communication systems categorized as “social awareness streams”. As described in the paper, system data and message content are both utilized from a plethora of users in order to provide a well-informed understanding of the activity of the users on the Twitter network. The author goes on to describe the research done on Twitter and what the user’s intentions are in using the site. It was discovered that users had four main intentions: daily chatter, conversations, sharing information, and reporting news. Furthermore, they found that users had three different roles: being an information source, information searcher, or as a friend.
Reflection
As an ex-Twitter user myself back in high school, it was no surprise to me that Twitter was the microblogging platform to be investigated. After all, it is home to millions of users ranging from casual joes to respected news networks. With such a big user base, there is clear value in researching it. With the ability to follow various sources and instant access to information worldwide, it is a very powerful platform for sharing and receiving live updates. However, with this ease of use and high visibility, also comes some negatives. Since some tweets are public and visible to everyone, this often opens a door open for argument. A clear example of this is in the political field, where opposing parties often argue with each other back and forth. Twitter has become so popular that even the President of the United States utilizes it to broadcast his thoughts (and inviting others unintentionally to voice their opinions as well). As described in the paper, the main intentions and roles of the user were what I expected as well. From my own previous experience, I found myself in each one of those roles at any given time. Since Twitter is described as an online news and social network service, these are the use cases where I see people accessing the social media platform for.
Questions
- Why do many people utilize Twitter to receive their daily news rather than a typical news source platform?
- Can the information from Twitter, sorted by hashtags, be used to predict events that have not happened yet?
- With the vast amount of information posted on Twitter, what are possible use cases where machine learning can be implemented for research purposes?