Predicting Opinion Leaders in Twitter Activism Networks The Case of the Wisconsin Recall Election
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
January 2014
Abstract
This study employs content and network analysis techniques to explore the predictors of opinion leadership in a political activism network on Twitter. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using user-generated content to measure user characteristics. The characteristics were analyzed to predict users’ performance in the network. According to the results, Twitter users with higher connectivity and issue involvement are better at influencing information flow on Twitter. User connectivity was measured by betweenness centrality, and issue involvement was measured by a user’s geographic proximity to a given event and the contribution of engaging tweets. In addition, the results show that tweets by organizations had greater influence than those by individual users.
Recommended Citation
Xu, Weiai; Sang, Yoonmo; Blasiola, Stacy; and Park, Hanwoo, "Predicting Opinion Leaders in Twitter Activism Networks The Case of the Wisconsin Recall Election" (2014). Department of Strategic, Legal, and Management Communications Faculty Publications. 5.
https://dh.howard.edu/strategic_fac/5
