Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online

Attempts to map online networks, representing relationships between people and sites, have covered sites including Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. However, the predominant approach of static network visualization, treating months of data as a single case rather than depicting changes over time or betw...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Highfield, Tim, Kirchhoff, L., Nicolai, T.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19187
_version_ 1848749960999206912
author Highfield, Tim
Kirchhoff, L.
Nicolai, T.
author_facet Highfield, Tim
Kirchhoff, L.
Nicolai, T.
author_sort Highfield, Tim
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Attempts to map online networks, representing relationships between people and sites, have covered sites including Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. However, the predominant approach of static network visualization, treating months of data as a single case rather than depicting changes over time or between topics, remains a flawed process. As different events and themes provoke varying interactions and conversations, it is proposed that case-by-case analysis would aid studies of online social networks by further examining the dynamics of links and information flows. This study uses hyperlink analysis of a population of French political blogs to compare connections between sites from January to August 2009. Themes discussed in this period were identified for subsequent analysis of topic-oriented networks. By comparing static blogrolls with topical citations within posts, this research addresses challenges and methods in mapping online networks, providing new information on temporal aspects of linking behaviors and information flows within these systems. © The Author(s) 2011.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:29:15Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-19187
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:29:15Z
publishDate 2011
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-191872017-09-13T15:44:34Z Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online Highfield, Tim Kirchhoff, L. Nicolai, T. Attempts to map online networks, representing relationships between people and sites, have covered sites including Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. However, the predominant approach of static network visualization, treating months of data as a single case rather than depicting changes over time or between topics, remains a flawed process. As different events and themes provoke varying interactions and conversations, it is proposed that case-by-case analysis would aid studies of online social networks by further examining the dynamics of links and information flows. This study uses hyperlink analysis of a population of French political blogs to compare connections between sites from January to August 2009. Themes discussed in this period were identified for subsequent analysis of topic-oriented networks. By comparing static blogrolls with topical citations within posts, this research addresses challenges and methods in mapping online networks, providing new information on temporal aspects of linking behaviors and information flows within these systems. © The Author(s) 2011. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19187 10.1177/0894439310382514 restricted
spellingShingle Highfield, Tim
Kirchhoff, L.
Nicolai, T.
Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online
title Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online
title_full Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online
title_fullStr Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online
title_full_unstemmed Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online
title_short Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online
title_sort challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19187