News and Geolocated Social Media Accurately Measure Protest Size Variation

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 1343-1351
Author(s):  
ANTON SOBOLEV ◽  
M. KEITH CHEN ◽  
JUNGSEOCK JOO ◽  
ZACHARY C. STEINERT-THRELKELD
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Media Data ◽  
Size Estimates

Larger protests are more likely to lead to policy changes than small ones are, but whether or not attendance estimates provided in news or generated from social media are biased is an open question. This letter closes the question: news and geolocated social media data generate accurate estimates of protest size variation. This claim is substantiated using cellphone location data from more than 10 million individuals during the 2017 United States Women’s March protests. These cellphone estimates correlate strongly with those provided in news media as well as three size estimates generated using geolocated tweets, one text-based and two based on images. Inferences about protest attendance from these estimates match others’ findings about the Women’s March.

scholarly journals A Multi-platform Approach to Monitoring Negative Dominance for COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Information Online

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Paola Pascual-Ferrá ◽  
Neil Alperstein ◽  
Daniel J. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Adverse Events ◽  
News Media ◽  
Search Behavior ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Youtube Videos ◽  
Negative Dominance ◽  
Media Data

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to test the appearance of negative dominance in COVID-19 vaccine-related information and activity online. We hypothesized that if negative dominance appeared, it would be a reflection of peaks in adverse events related to the vaccine, that negative content would attract more engagement on social media than other vaccine-related posts, and posts referencing adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccination would have a higher average toxicity score. Methods We collected data using Google Trends for search behavior, CrowdTangle for social media data, and Media Cloud for media stories, and compared them against the dates of key adverse events related to COVID-19. We used Communalytic to analyze the toxicity of social media posts by platform and topic. Results While our first hypothesis was partially supported, with peaks in search behavior for image and YouTube videos driven by adverse events, we did not find negative dominance in other types of searches or patterns of attention by news media or on social media. Conclusion We did not find evidence in our data to prove the negative dominance of adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccination on social media. Future studies should corroborate these findings and, if consistent, focus on explaining why this may be the case.

scholarly journals Underage JUUL Use Patterns: Content Analysis of Reddit Messages

10.2196/13038 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. e13038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongcheng Zhan ◽  
Zhu Zhang ◽  
Janet M Okamoto ◽  
Daniel D Zeng ◽  
Scott J Leischow
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Cigarette Brand ◽  
Media Data ◽  
Significant Health

Background The popularity of JUUL (an e-cigarette brand) among youth has recently been reported in news media and academic papers, which has raised great public health concerns. Little research has been conducted on the age distribution, geographic distribution, approaches to buying JUUL, and flavor preferences pertaining to underage JUUL users. Objective The aim of this study was to analyze social media data related to demographics, methods of access, product characteristics, and use patterns of underage JUUL use. Methods We collected publicly available JUUL-related data from Reddit. We extracted and summarized the age, location, and flavor preference of subreddit UnderageJuul users. We also compared common and unique users between subreddit UnderageJuul and subreddit JUUL. The methods of purchasing JUULs were analyzed by manually examining the content of the Reddit threads. Results A total of 716 threads and 2935 comments were collected from the subreddit UnderageJuul before it was shut down. Most threads did not mention a specific age, but ages ranged from 13 years to greater than 21 years in those that did. Mango, mint, and cucumber were the most popular among the 7 flavors listed on JUUL’s official website, and 336 subreddit UnderageJuul threads mentioned 7 discreet approaches to circumvent relevant legal regulations to get JUUL products, the most common of which was purchasing JUUL from other Reddit users (n=181). Almost half of the UnderageJuul users (389/844, 46.1%) also participated in discussions on the main JUUL subreddit and sought information across multiple Reddit forums. Most (64/74, 86%) posters were from large metropolitan areas. Conclusions The subreddit UnderageJuul functioned as a forum to explore methods of obtaining JUUL and to discuss and recommend specific flavors before it was shut down. About half of those using UnderageJuul also used the more general JUUL subreddit, so a forum still exists where youths can attempt to share information on how to obtain JUUL and other products. Exploration of such social media data in real time for rapid public health surveillance could provide early warning for significant health risks before they become major public health threats.

scholarly journals Research on event perception based on geo-tagged social media data

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruoxin Zhu ◽  
Chenyu Zuo ◽  
Diao Lin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Event Study ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Event Model ◽  
Open Question ◽  
Media Data

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Technological advancement makes information dissemination more convenient. When a notable event occurs, social media serves a popular platform for citizens to share event-related information. Therefore, in the information age, how to effectively observe the event and improve event management ability is an open question worthy of attention. Traditional social survey methods and various automatic sensors have been widely used to monitor the specific event. However, widely used social media service provides a unique approach for the event study with individuals as smart sensors. How to perceive an event through social media data has triggered a series of researches. Currently, we can find when, where what happened and induced impact based on geo-tagged social media data. However, event study based on social media is still in its infancy. This paper provides an overview of event study based on geo-tagged social media data. Firstly, we introduce the event model and the characteristics of social media data. Then, how to detect and trace event, how to analyze event impact and visually express obtained knowledge are discussed respectively. Subsequently, based on the existing researches, we propose further questions and conclude.</p>

scholarly journals Solving Competitive Location Problems with Social Media Data Based on Customers’ Local Sensitivities

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Jiang ◽  
Yandong Wang ◽  
Mingxuan Dou ◽  
Senbao Liu ◽  
Shiwei Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Optimal Location ◽  
Location Based Services ◽  
Location Problems ◽  
Competitive Location ◽  
Test Cases ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Media Data

Competitive location problems (CLPs) are a crucial business concern. Evaluating customers’ sensitivities to different facility attractions (such as distance and business area) is the premise for solving a CLP. Currently, the development of location-based services facilitates the use of location data for sensitivity evaluations. Most studies based on location data assumed the customers’ sensitivities to be global and constant over space. In this paper, we proposed a new method of using social media data to solve competitive location problems based on the evaluation of customers’ local sensitivities. Regular units were first designed to spatially aggregate social media data to extract samples with uniform spatial distribution. Then, geographically weighted regression (GWR) and the Huff model were combined to evaluate local sensitivities. By applying the evaluation results, the captures for different feasible locations were calculated, and the optimal location for a new retail facility could be determined. In our study, the five largest retail agglomerations in Beijing were taken as test cases, and a possible new retail agglomeration was located. The results of our study can help people have a better understanding of the spatial variation of customers’ local sensitivities. In addition, our results indicate that our method can solve competitive location problems in a cost-effective way.

scholarly journals Underage JUUL Use Patterns: Content Analysis of Reddit Messages (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongcheng Zhan ◽  
Zhu Zhang ◽  
Janet M Okamoto ◽  
Daniel D Zeng ◽  
Scott J Leischow
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Cigarette Brand ◽  
Media Data ◽  
Significant Health

BACKGROUND The popularity of JUUL (an e-cigarette brand) among youth has recently been reported in news media and academic papers, which has raised great public health concerns. Little research has been conducted on the age distribution, geographic distribution, approaches to buying JUUL, and flavor preferences pertaining to underage JUUL users. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze social media data related to demographics, methods of access, product characteristics, and use patterns of underage JUUL use. METHODS We collected publicly available JUUL-related data from Reddit. We extracted and summarized the age, location, and flavor preference of subreddit UnderageJuul users. We also compared common and unique users between subreddit UnderageJuul and subreddit JUUL. The methods of purchasing JUULs were analyzed by manually examining the content of the Reddit threads. RESULTS A total of 716 threads and 2935 comments were collected from the subreddit UnderageJuul before it was shut down. Most threads did not mention a specific age, but ages ranged from 13 years to greater than 21 years in those that did. Mango, mint, and cucumber were the most popular among the 7 flavors listed on JUUL’s official website, and 336 subreddit UnderageJuul threads mentioned 7 discreet approaches to circumvent relevant legal regulations to get JUUL products, the most common of which was purchasing JUUL from other Reddit users (n=181). Almost half of the UnderageJuul users (389/844, 46.1%) also participated in discussions on the main JUUL subreddit and sought information across multiple Reddit forums. Most (64/74, 86%) posters were from large metropolitan areas. CONCLUSIONS The subreddit UnderageJuul functioned as a forum to explore methods of obtaining JUUL and to discuss and recommend specific flavors before it was shut down. About half of those using UnderageJuul also used the more general JUUL subreddit, so a forum still exists where youths can attempt to share information on how to obtain JUUL and other products. Exploration of such social media data in real time for rapid public health surveillance could provide early warning for significant health risks before they become major public health threats.

scholarly journals Measuring Organizational Legitimacy in Social Media: Assessing Citizens’ Judgments With Sentiment Analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Etter ◽  
Elanor Colleoni ◽  
Laura Illia ◽  
Katia Meggiorin ◽  
Antonino D’Eugenio
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Organizational Legitimacy ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Media Data

Conventional quantitative methods for the measurement of organizational legitimacy consider mainly three sources that make judgments about organizations visible: news media, accreditation bodies, and surveys. Over the last decade, however, social media have enabled ordinary citizens to bypass the gatekeeping function of these institutional evaluators and autonomously make individual judgments public. This inclusion of voices beyond functional and formally organized stakeholder groups potentially pluralizes the ongoing discussions about organizations. The individual judgments in blogs, tweets, and Facebook posts give indication about the broader fit between an organization’s perceived behavior and heterogeneous social norms and therefore constitute an indicator of organizational legitimacy that can be accessed and measured. We propose the use of social media data and sentiment analysis to study the affect-based responses to organizational actions by citizens. We critically discuss and compare the method with existing quantitative methods for legitimacy measurement and apply them to a recent case in the banking industry. We discuss the value of the method for studying the process of legitimacy construction as the expression and negotiation of normative judgments about organizations by various evaluators.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Social Media Data and Crime Rates in the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 205630511983458
Author(s):  
Yan Wang ◽  
Wenchao Yu ◽  
Sam Liu ◽  
Sean D. Young
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Crime Data ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Media Data

Crime monitoring tools are needed for public health and law enforcement officials to deploy appropriate resources and develop targeted interventions. Social media, such as Twitter, has been shown to be a feasible tool for monitoring and predicting public health events such as disease outbreaks. Social media might also serve as a feasible tool for crime surveillance. In this study, we collected Twitter data between May and December 2012 and crime data for the years 2012 and 2013 in the United States. We examined the association between crime data and drug-related tweets. We found that tweets from 2012 were strongly associated with county-level crime data in both 2012 and 2013. This study presents preliminary evidence that social media data can be used to help predict future crimes. We discuss how future research can build upon this initial study to further examine the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach.

Assessing wild fire risk in the United States using social media data

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaojie Yue ◽  
Kecui Dong ◽  
Xiangwei Zhao ◽  
Xinyue Ye
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Media Data ◽  
Wild Fire ◽  
Media Data
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document