Connected Action » Industry http://www.connectedaction.net Sociology and the Internet, Social Media, Networks and Mobile Social Software Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:47:03 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Keyword Networks: create word association networks from text with NodeXL (with a macro) http://www.connectedaction.net/2012/01/29/keyword-networks-create-word-association-networks-from-text-with-nodexl-with-a-macro/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=keyword-networks-create-word-association-networks-from-text-with-nodexl-with-a-macro http://www.connectedaction.net/2012/01/29/keyword-networks-create-word-association-networks-from-text-with-nodexl-with-a-macro/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:43:23 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=3972

This is the collection of keyword pairs that appeared in two clusters of people who Tweeted about “Paul Ryan”, the Republican Congressman from Wisconsin who delivered the GOP rebuttal to the 2011 United States State of the Union Address.  This network illustrates the ways that certain word pairs appears only or predominantly in one cluster (colored here Red and Blue) or the other. Terms that appeared in both clusters appear as purple.

Social networks are built from relationships between people.  Keyword networks are built from relationships between words and other text strings.  When two words appear in the same message, sentence, or alongside one another ties of different strengths are created.  The networks that result can illuminate the relationships among topics of importance in a collection of messages.

Markus Strohmaier from the Technical University Graz (TUG) along with Claudia Wagner gave us inspiration in a paper:

C. Wagner, M. Strohmaier, The Wisdom in Tweetonomies: Acquiring Latent Conceptual Structures from Social Awareness Streams, Semantic Search 2010 Workshop (SemSearch2010), in conjunction with the 19th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2010), Raleigh, NC, USA, April 26-30, ACM, 2010. (pdf)

in which they defined a range of ways two words (technically these are strings, they may not really be words) can be associated with one another.  Words could be linked if they are in the same tweet, next to one another, or sequential among other ways to link terms.

NodeXL has not had any features for exploring the networks in texts.  Now with the addition of a new macro from Scott Golder, it is fairly simple to extract pairs of keywords from collection of tweets.  NodeXL’s Twitter importer can optionally include the content of the tweet that included the search term and this column of text can now be processed itself into a new network based on the ways words appear together in tweets.

This feature builds on the work of several people.  Scott Golder from Cornell started the ball rolling with a simple but effective VBA script that allowed others to build and refine the models of what counts as a tie between two words.  Vladimir Barash added several refinements including support for stop word lists to remove common terms.  Scott then picked up the code again and added a set of features for selecting the nature of the graph and making it easier to select the options needed.

The code for the Keyword Network macro is below.

The instructions to use it take a few steps to complete:

1. Create a new workbook, eg a list of tweets or an import from a Twitter search, whatever. Save it as .xlsm. The m is important. This can be an existing NodeXL workbook.

2. Go to Developer -> Macros. Make up a name; it doesn’t matter because it’ll get overwritten. Then press Create. the VBA window will open.

3. In the big text are that says “Sub whatever() End Sub”, select all that text and delete it. Paste in the contents of the text file below.

4. Go to Tools->Reference. Check the checkboxes for “Microsoft Scripting Runtime” and “Microsott VBScript Regular Expressions”. Press OK. Save the file (File->Save) then exit (“Close and return to Microsoft Excel”).

5. Now go to Developer -> Macros. Choose CreateWordNet and press the Run button.

6. It’ll ask you for a worksheet name, a column and a start-row. Then it’ll create a new worksheet with the edgelist in it.

The edge list is not directed (there isn’t really a concept of direction in “co-occurs”) but is weighted. Each pair is weighted by the number of times it appears.

This version also includes options for edge creation.

First, it is now possible to suppress edges of weight=1, which is helpful in getting rid of a lot of garbage.

Second, it is now possible to defined edges by adjacency or co-tweeting. Given a tweet of words “w1 w2 w3″ adjacency will give edges w1-w2 and w2-w3, while co-tweeting will give edges w1-w2, w1-w3, w2-w3.

For edges defined by adjacency, you may choose directed or undirected edges. So a tweet of “Marc Smith Marc” (for example) would generate the weighted directed edges Marc,Smith,1 and Smith,Marc,1 while the sole undirected edge would be Marc,Smith,2. That is, for undirected edges (where ordering doesn’t matter) the words are alphabetized.

An illustrated guide:

Start with a NodeXL workbook with a column of text for either Vertices or Edges (or any column of text).  Here we have the tweet text of a recent Twitter Search Term network query.

Select “Developer” from the Excel menu and create a new Macro.  I take the text of Scott’s macro and paste it here, replacing everything else in the code buffer.

Note the selection of Tools>References> needed to run this macro!  Select Microsoft Scripting Runtime and Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5.

Running the Macro:

Scott’s macro presents a series of dialogs to the user (I believe we could do this in a single dialog when we revise):

First we specify the worksheet in the workbook containing the text column to process:

Next we specify the column containing the text to process:

Next we specify the row in which the text starts in that column:

The macro will copy an edge attribute forward if specified (note, I think the *last* attribute for any AB pair is what is reported).

The user is asked if the results should omit the singleton edges, which can be useful.

Edges can be defined as co-sequential or co-cell: ie. ABCD can generate AB, BC, CD or AB, AC, AD, etc.

Users select if they want the edges to include their reciprocal (i.e. generate a “BA” edge for each “AB” edge).

The result is a worksheet with word pair edges and the weights of their frequency of occurrence.

This worksheet can then be imported into a separate NodeXL template using the Import from Open Workbook feature:

This generates a keyword network that looks like this:

We will be working on a revised and updated version of this workflow in the coming months.  For example, this is a possible UI revision:

Create Word Network VB Macro Vdb5

 

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2012/01/29/keyword-networks-create-word-association-networks-from-text-with-nodexl-with-a-macro/feed/ 2 January 19-20, 2012: Syracuse University – NodeXL Social Network Analysis Workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2012/01/01/january-19-20-2012-syracuse-university-nodexl-social-network-analysis-workshop/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=january-19-20-2012-syracuse-university-nodexl-social-network-analysis-workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2012/01/01/january-19-20-2012-syracuse-university-nodexl-social-network-analysis-workshop/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:00:35 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4639
I will speak and lead a workshop on social media network analysis at Syracuse University on the 19th and 20th of January, 2012.

Ines Mergel is my host.  Prof. Mergel is Assistant Professor of Public Administration, Department of Public Administration and International Affairs, and a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Technology and Information Policy at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, NY.

I will speak about the patterns we are finding in the data collected and analyzed by NodeXL.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2012/01/01/january-19-20-2012-syracuse-university-nodexl-social-network-analysis-workshop/feed/ 0 November 28 and 30: Mastering Social Media – Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/18/november-28-and-30-mastering-social-media-cape-town-and-johannesburg-south-africa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-28-and-30-mastering-social-media-cape-town-and-johannesburg-south-africa http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/18/november-28-and-30-mastering-social-media-cape-town-and-johannesburg-south-africa/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:56:59 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=5381

Mastering Social Media 2011 is a workshop scheduled for November 28 and 30 in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.

My partner, Walter Pike, is a Marketing Maven and Founder of PiKE | New Marketing (www.pike.co.za) and the founder of the Digital Academy www.digitalacademy.co.za
He blogs at walterpike.com.

Mastering Social Media will give you practical tools on how to plan, execute and monitor your social media campaigns. Discussions will lead you through the introduction to social media marketing, understanding community dynamics, mapping social networks and applying network insights to your goals.
Brand Managers, Marketing Managers, Advertising Agencies, Digital Agencies, and PR Agencies are likely to find the day useful.

Venues and Dates

Cape Town

Protea Hotel Breakwater Lodge

28 November 2011
Protea Hotel
Breakwater Lodge,
Waterfront

Johannesburg

Gordon Institute of Business Science

30 November 2011
Gordon Institute
of Business Science,
Illovo

Pictures:

Lanseria Airport Runway, Johannesburg, South AfricaLanseria Airport Runway, Johannesburg, South AfricaThe cockpit of the Swift Flite King Air that flew us back to JohannesburgFlying to Johannesburg aboard the Swift Flite King AirAbove Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaTake Off from Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMarc in the King Air CockpitKing Air CockpitKing Air, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMarc and Madeline with the King Air, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaInyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWalter Pike, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaInyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWhere the Buffalo roam (and fight), Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaGiraffe, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaGiraffe, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaImpala, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaHyena, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaHyena, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaBuffalo, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWet Elephant, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWet Elephant, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaGiraffe, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaPiet Marimane, Game Ranger, Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaImpala, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWater Buffalo, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWater Buffalo, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaYoung Lion, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWater Buffalo, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South Africa"Inyati" means Water Buffalo, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaBaby Rhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaBaby Rhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMomma and Baby Rhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMomma and Baby Rhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMomma and Baby Rhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaBaby Rhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaRhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaRhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaRhino, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaImpala, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Mpumalanga, South AfricaElephant Skull, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaZebra, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaNelson and Piet examine the game tracks, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaBird nests,Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSand River Dam, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaZebra and Impala, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaZebra, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaZebra, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLioness, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaElephant browses the trees at Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaElephant browses the trees at Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaElephant browses the trees at Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaElephant browses the trees at Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaElephant browses the trees at Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaElephant browses the trees at Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaView from Inyati, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLions at rest, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLions, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLions, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion Roars, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion Roars, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSunset, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaBreak Time, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaThorn Bushes, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaBreak Time, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaHippo, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMarc and Leopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLeopard, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaSabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLions, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaLion, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaGame Ranger Piet, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaKing Air, Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaWalter Pike aboard a King Air, enroute to Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMarc and Peter Hall, enroute to Sabi Sands Game Preserve, Limpopo, South AfricaMadeline and Catherine at Swift Flite, Lanseria Airport, Johannesburg, South AfricaMastering Social Media at GIBS School of Business, Johannesburg, South AfricaMastering Social Media at GIBS School of Business, Johannesburg, South AfricaMarc in Sandton Lodge, Johannesburg, South AfricaStellenbosch, South AfricaUniversity of Cape Town, South AfricaMarc lectures in Cape Town, South AfricaMarc lectures in Cape Town, South AfricaMarc lectures in Cape Town, South AfricaMastering Social Media, Cape Town, South AfricaMastering Social Media, Cape Town, South AfricaMastering Social Media, Cape Town, South AfricaMastering Social Media, Cape Town, South AfricaWalter Pike at Mastering Social Media, Cape Town, South AfricaMastering Social Media, Cape Town, South AfricaBreakwater and Cape Town Stadium, South AfricaCamper Sail Boat with Helicopter Escort - Volvo Ocean Race, Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town Harbor Break Water and Table Mountain, South AfricaCape Town Harbor and Table Mountain, South AfricaCape Town Harbor, South AfricaSeals in Cape Town Harbor, South AfricaTable Mountain and Harbor, Cape Town, South AfricaHarbor Clock Tower, Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaMarc in Cape Town, South AfricaPenguins in Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins in Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins in Simon's Town, South AfricaThe Donner Family, Cape Town, South AfricaSimon's Town, South AfricaLots of things for sale in Simon's Town, South AfricaFalse Bay, South AfricaPenguins! Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins! Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins! Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins! Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins! Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins! Simon's Town, South AfricaPenguins in Simon's Town, South AfricaLots for sale in Simon's Town, South AfricaSimon's Town, South AfricaSouth AfricaJonathan Donner in South AfricaSouth AfricaChapman's Peak Drive, South AfricaChapman's Peak Drive, South AfricaChapman's Peak Drive, South AfricaChapman's Peak Drive, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaJonathan Donner, Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaWalter Pike at Mobile Web Africa, Johannesburg, South AfricaWalter Pike at Mobile Web Africa, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa, Johannesburg, South AfricaWalter Pike at Mobile Web Africa, Johannesburg, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaCape Town, South AfricaEnroute to South Africa
]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/18/november-28-and-30-mastering-social-media-cape-town-and-johannesburg-south-africa/feed/ 0 Contrasting teaparty and occupywallstreet twitter networks http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/16/contrasting-teaparty-and-occupywallstreet-twitter-networks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=contrasting-teaparty-and-occupywallstreet-twitter-networks http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/16/contrasting-teaparty-and-occupywallstreet-twitter-networks/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:56:51 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=5389 Both teaparty and occupywallstreet are actively discussed in twitter.

This map of connections among people who tweeted Teaparty starts on 11/15/2011 14:22 UTC and ends on 11/15/2011 17:23, a total of 3 hours and 1 minute of traffic.

The Teaparty data set contained 1,533 tweets, replies and mentions.
Blue edges are connections created by replies and mentions. Grey lines are follows relationships.

Top most between users:
@ronpaul
@michellemalkin
@christopherhull
@theteaparty_net
@capaction
@thedailyedge
@bill1phd
@dbargen
@gulagbound
@rightcandidates

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 659
Unique Edges: 8808
Edges With Duplicates: 1423
Total Edges: 10231
Self-Loops: 1084
Connected Components: 49
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 44
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 606
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 10148
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 6
Average Geodesic Distance:2.693965
Graph Density: 0.02036797
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.193

The major clusters are composed of teaparty supporters. The center bottom cluster are teaparty critics.

This map of the connections among people who tweeted Occupywallstreet starts on 11/15/2011 23:08 and ends on 11/15/2011 23:34 UTC, a total of 26 minutes of traffic.

Occupywallstreet 1,370 tweets, replies and mentions
Blue edges are connections created by replies and mentions. Grey lines are follows relationships.

Top most between users:
@occupywallst
@mmflint
@nyclu
@allisonkilkenny
@andrewbreitbart
@operationleaks
@occupydenver
@theatlantic
@usgeneralstrike
@rt_com

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 1000
Unique Edges: 3546
Edges With Duplicates: 826
Total Edges: 4372
Self-Loops: 794
Connected Components: 241
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 230
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 747
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 3998
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 7
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.65438
Graph Density: 0.003246246
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.194

Some notable contrasts:
Teaparty Graph Density: 0.002652645
Occupywallstreet Graph Density: 0.02036797 – significantly lower levels of interconnection
Teaparty: Single-Vertex Connected Components 44 of 1000
Occupywallstreet: Single-Vertex Connected Components 283 of 1000

Many more “isolates” (Single-Vertex Connected Components) in Occupywallstreet.
Many more hubs, and more retweeting activity in Occupywallstreet.

The difference in duration of these data sets illustrates the relative speed of content creation in the topics. The data sets are commensurable in that they are both the result of a single query against the Twitter search API. So both maps are the results of charting connections among the authors of the last 1500 tweets, how ever long that takes to create.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/16/contrasting-teaparty-and-occupywallstreet-twitter-networks/feed/ 0 November 8, 2011: University of Manchester, NodeXL SNA / Social Media Workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/05/november-8-2011-university-of-manchester-nodexl-sna-social-media-workshop/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-8-2011-university-of-manchester-nodexl-sna-social-media-workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/05/november-8-2011-university-of-manchester-nodexl-sna-social-media-workshop/#comments Sat, 05 Nov 2011 08:00:24 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4606

Methodologies for Web and Social Media Data Analysis in Social Science and Policy Research

CCSR Short Course
Social Media Network Analysis using NodeXL

November 9th  9.00 am – 5.30 pm.

Marc Smith
Social Media Research Foundation
http://www.smrfoundation.org

Course Summary: Networks are everywhere in the natural and social world.  New tools are making the task of getting, processing, measuring, visualizing and gaining insights from network data sets easier than ever before.  The rise of social media offers a new and abundant source of network data.  The NodeXL project (http://www.codeplex.com/nodexl) from the Social Media Research Foundation (http://www.smrfoundation.org) offers a free and open path to network overview, discovery and exploration within the context of the familiar Excel spreadsheet.  In this short course we will introduce the NodeXL application and review the landscape of networks, social networks, and social media networks. Using the tool, non-programmers can quickly select a network of interest from various social media and other data sources.  Twitter, flickr, YouTube, email, the World Wide Web, and Facebook data can be quickly imported into NodeXL.  Networks can then be analyzed and visualized using tools similar to those used to create a pie chart or line graph [1].  As the challenge and cost of network acquisition and analysis drops, abundant data sets are being generated that document the range of variation of diverse sources of social media.  How many different kinds of Twitter hashtags exist?  Using snapshots of hundreds of hashtags collected over a year, it is now possible to build rough taxonomies of this kind of social media.  NodeXL provides access to a web gallery of data [2], allowing users to browse existing data sets and upload their own as well. Borrowing the vision of telescope arrays that create composite images far better than any individual instrument could, the Social Media Research Foundation envisions an user generated archive that provides a research asset that supports the collective effort to understand the structures and dynamics of network data.

[1] NodeXL Image Gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/
[2] NodeXL Graph Gallery: http://nodexlgraphgallery.org

Course Objectives
After this course, participants will:

(1) Be familiar with the basic concepts of networks, social networks and social media networks
(2) Understand the core features of the NodeXL network analysis and visualization tool
(3) Review images and data sets for dozens of different social media networks
(4) Learn to identify general types of social media networks along with the key people and groups within them

Target Audience
This course is suitable for people with some experience or interest in social media, social science, or social network analysis.  It is particularly appropriate for those who are involved in studying social structures and their change over time.

Laboratory and IT requirements:
Participants will need access to a computer connected to the Internet  and will be supplied with the free NodeXL software.

Suggested Reading
Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0123822297?ie=UTF8&tag=conneactio-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0123822297

EventGraphs:
http://www.cs.umd.edu/localphp/hcil/tech-reports-search.php?number=2010-13

Visualizing the Signatures of Social Roles in Online Discussion Groups:
http://www.cmu.edu/joss/content/articles/volume8/Welser/

Discussion catalysts in online political discussions: Content importers and conversation starters
http://www.connectedaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2009-JCMC-Discussion-Catalysts-Himelboim-and-Smith.pdf

Analyzing (Social Media) Networks with NodeXL
http://www.connectedaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2009-CT-NodeXL-and-Social-Queries-a-social-media-network-analysis-toolkit.pdf

Whiter the experts: Social affordances and the cultivation of experts in community Q&A systems
 http://www.connectedaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2009-Social-Computing-Whither-the-Experts.pdf

First steps to NetViz Nirvana: evaluating social network analysis with NodeXL
 http://www.cs.umd.edu/~cdunne/pubs/Bonsignore09Firststepsto.pdf

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/11/05/november-8-2011-university-of-manchester-nodexl-sna-social-media-workshop/feed/ 0 November 3, 2011: Seoul, South Korea – International Symposium on Convergence Technology (ConTech 2011) http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/22/november-3-2011-seoul-south-korea-international-symposium-on-convergence-technology-contech-2011/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-3-2011-seoul-south-korea-international-symposium-on-convergence-technology-contech-2011 http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/22/november-3-2011-seoul-south-korea-international-symposium-on-convergence-technology-contech-2011/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 19:00:42 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4819

I will speak at the International Symposium on Convergence Technology (ConTech 2011) – Smart & Humane World – on November 3rd in Seoul, South Korea.

Date: 2011 November 3 (Thurs)
Place: COEX Grand Ballroom, Seoul, Korea
Organized by Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technologies (AICT), Seoul National University (SNU)
In Cooperation with Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, National Research Foundation of Korea, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology (GSCST)
Symposium Chair : Choi, Yanghee (President, AICT)

Program
09:00~09:30 Registration
09:30~10:00 Opening Ceremony
Plenary Session : Smart & Humane World through Convergence
10:00~10:40 Speaker (TBD)
10:50~11:30 Speaker (TBD)
11:30~13:00 Lunch
Session 1 : Bio Convergence (Chair : Prof. Kim, Sunghoon)
Session 2 : IT Convergence (Chair : Dr. Lee, Manjai)
Session 3 : Appropriate Technology (Chair : Prof. Kang, Namjun)
13:00~15:00 Scott A. Strobel (Professor, Yale University)
Speaker Kevin Kim (Professor, University of Illinois)
Speaker Masaru Kitsuregawa (Professor, Tokyo University)
Speaker Haesun Park (Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology)
Speaker Marc Smith (Connected Action)
Speaker Sang-goo Lee (Professor, Seoul National University)
Speaker Haklae Kim (Samsung)
Speaker Raghu Ramakrishnan (Yahoo)

My slides: 20111103 con tech2011-marc smith

View more presentations from Marc Smith.

I will also visit Professor Han Woo Park at YeungNam University (Wikipedia) in Daegu, South Korea to meet with his students in the Webometrics Institute program.

This will be my second trip to Korea, I was there last year for a related event.  Pictures after the jump:

8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - Marc Smith with George Barnett and Leo Kim at the NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - NIA Digital Cultures Symposium8 November 2010 - NIA Digital Cultures SymposiumSeoul Korea November 2010George Barnett endorses NodeXL in Seoul, KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaMarc at the Gyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaLeo Kim at the Gyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaMarc Smith and Leo Kim at the Gyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaMarc at the Gyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaLeo Kim at the Gyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaGyeongbokgung (Royal Palace), Seoul, South KoreaSeoul Korea November 2010Happy Police Characters in Seoul Korea November 2010Everyone is staring at their phone, on the Seoul Metro, Seoul, Korea November 2010Kyle Koh demonstrates his improved word cloud tool at Seoul National University, Seoul Korea November 2010Seoul Korea November 2010Seoul Korea November 2010Seoul, Korea November 2010Seoul, Korea November 2010Old Train Station, Seoul, Korea November 2010New York Hotdog in Seoul, Korea November 2010Guards in Daegu, South KoreaDaegu, South KoreaDaegu, South KoreaHan Woo Park's research group from YeugNam University, in Daegu, South KoreaDaegu, South KoreaSeoul SkylineSeoulSeoul StationSeoul StationSeoulDawn in Seoul, KoreaMarc in Seoul, Korea with Giant Bi Bim BopDinner in Seoul, KoreaDinner in Seoul, KoreaCalligraphy shop in Insadong, Seoul, KoreaArt in Insadong, Seoul, KoreaRobots in Seoul, KoreaProfessor Robert Ackland speaks at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaProfessor Robert Ackland speaks at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaGeorge Barnett speaks at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaGeorge Barnett speaks at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaProfessor Han Woo Park speaks at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaProfessor Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki speaks at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaProfessor Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki speaks at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaHan Woo Park and George Barnett at the NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaView from NIA Digital Culture Conference, Seoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, KoreaSeoul, Korea
]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/22/november-3-2011-seoul-south-korea-international-symposium-on-convergence-technology-contech-2011/feed/ 0 October 19-20, 2011: NYC – Predictive Analytics World: Network Maps for End Users: Collect, Analyze, Visualize and Communicate Network Insights with Zero Coding http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/17/october-19-20-2011-nyc-predictive-analytics-world-network-maps-for-end-users-collect-analyze-visualize-and-communicate-network-insights-with-zero-coding/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=october-19-20-2011-nyc-predictive-analytics-world-network-maps-for-end-users-collect-analyze-visualize-and-communicate-network-insights-with-zero-coding http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/17/october-19-20-2011-nyc-predictive-analytics-world-network-maps-for-end-users-collect-analyze-visualize-and-communicate-network-insights-with-zero-coding/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:00:07 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4474  

I presented on social media network analysis on October 20, 2011 in New York City at Predictive Analytics World.

A map of the connections among the people tweeting about the #Pawcon hashtag is below.

Network Maps for End Users: Collect, Analyze, Visualize and Communicate Network Insights with Zero Coding

Abstract: Networks are everywhere except the end user desktop.  NodeXL, the free and open network overview, discovery and exploration add-in for the popular and familiar Excel (2007/2010) spreadsheet allows users who are comfortable making pie charts to now make useful network visualizations.  Developed and released by the Social Media Research Foundation, NodeXL uses Excel as a framework, providing a GUI network browser (a “web browser”?) that novices can use quickly and experts can use to generate sophisticated results.  Data importers provide access to a range of social media network data sources like Twitter, flickr, YouTube, Facebook, email, the WWW, and more through standard file formats (CSV, GraphML, Matrix).  Simple to use tools can automatically analyze, visualize and highlight insights in complex network graphs.  Using NodeXL, researchers have been collecting a wide range of network data sets from various social media services.  These images reveal a range of common social formations in social media and point to people who occupy strategic locations in these graphs.

This is a map of the connections among the people who tweeted the term “PAWCON” on the first day of the event:

20111019-NodeXL-Twitter-pawcon graph

These are the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word #pawcon when queried on October 19, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

A larger version of the image is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6261006732/sizes/l/in/ph…

Top most between users:
@tapan_patel
@pawcon
@sasanalytics
@deloitteba
@kristinevick
@jamet123
@zementis
@kdnuggets
@tibcospotfire
@saspublishing

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 41
Unique Edges: 233
Edges With Duplicates: 120
Total Edges: 353
Self-Loops: 44
Connected Components: 2
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 1
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 40
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 352
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 4
Average Geodesic Distance: 1.87133
Graph Density: 0.15304878
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.179

Here is an example map of the connections among the people who tweeted the term “pawcon” in Twitter on September 14th, a week prior to the event.

Manu Sharma from LinkedIn at Predictive Analytics World, New York City Manu Sharma from LinkedIn at Predictive Analytics World, New York City

Manu Sharma, Principle Research Scientist at LinkedIn gave a great presentation on the patterns found in their data.  Big data, for example, showed that most of the people who previously worked at recently failed banks and financial institutions have updated their profiles to show that they mostly have new jobs at some of the remaining companies in the industry.

The event was held at the New York Hilton: Maps & Directions

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/17/october-19-20-2011-nyc-predictive-analytics-world-network-maps-for-end-users-collect-analyze-visualize-and-communicate-network-insights-with-zero-coding/feed/ 0 ThreadMill 0.1: Social Accounting for Message Thread Collections http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/16/threadmill-0-1-social-accounting-for-message-thread-collections/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=threadmill-0-1-social-accounting-for-message-thread-collections http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/16/threadmill-0-1-social-accounting-for-message-thread-collections/#comments Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:00:44 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4387 The Social Media Research Foundation is pleased to announce the immediate availability of ThreadMill 0.1.  ThreadMill is a free and open application that consumes message thread data and produces reports about each author, thread, forum, and board along with visualizations of the patterns of connection and activity.  ThreadMill is written in Ruby, and depends on MongoDB, SinatraRB, HAML, and Flash to collect, analyze, and report data about collections of conversation threads.

Threaded conversations are a major form of social media.  Message boards, email and email lists, twitter, blog comments, text messages, and discussion forums are all social media systems built around the message thread data structure.  As messages are exchanged through these systems, some messages are sent as a reply to a particular previous message.  As messages are sent in reply to prior messages, chains of messages form.  Message chains come in two major forms: branching and non-branching.  Branching threads are those that allow more than one message to reply to a prior message.  Non-branching threads are single chains, like a string of pearls, that allow only one message to reply to a prior message.  Many web based message boards are non-branching.  Many email systems and discussion forums are branching.

ThreadMill requires a minimal set of data elements to generate its reports.  A data table must minimally have a column of information for each message that includes the name of the message board, the forum, the thread, and the author, along with a unique identifier for each message and the date and time it was posted.  Optional data elements include the unique identifier of the message being replied to, the URL of the message, and the URL for a profile photo.

All forms of threaded message exchange can be measured.  Simple measures like the count of the number of messages or the number of authors are obvious and useful.  Other measures can be created from more sophisticated analysis.  For example, the network of connections that forms as different authors reply to one another can be extracted and analyzed using network analysis methods.  It is possible to calculate metrics from these networks of reply that describe the location of each person in the graph.

ThreadMill generates several data sets that can be used to create visualizations of the activity and structure of a message board collection.

A Treemap data set can illustrate the hierarchy of encapsulated authors within threads, threads within fora, fora within boards, and boards within collections.  Treemap visualizations of collections of threaded conversations can quickly highlight the most active or populous discussions.

An AuthorLine visualization takes the form of a double histogram, with bubbles representing each thread active in each time period sized by the volume of messages the author contributed, sorted by size.  Threads that have been initiated by the author are represented as bubbles above the center line.  Messages that the author contributes to threads started by other authors are represented as bubbles stacked below the center line.  AuthorLines quickly reveal the pattern of activity an author displays and identifies which of several types of contributors the author is.

A scatter plot visualization represents each author as a bubble in an X-Y space defined by the number of different days the author was active against the average number of messages the author contributes to the threads in which they participate.

A time series line chart reveals the days of maximum and minimum activity along with trends.

A network diagram reveals the overall structure of the discussion space and the people who occupy strategic locations within the network graph.

ThreadMill has received generous assistance from Morningside Analytics.  Bruce Woodson implemented ThreadMill.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/16/threadmill-0-1-social-accounting-for-message-thread-collections/feed/ 2 #JW11 NodeXL SNA Map for 10 October 2011 http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/11/jw11-nodexl-sna-map-for-10-october-2011/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jw11-nodexl-sna-map-for-10-october-2011 http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/11/jw11-nodexl-sna-map-for-10-october-2011/#comments Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:31:47 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=5343 The Jive World 11 conference took place October 4-6, 2011.

20111010-NodeXL-Twitter-#jw11 graph
These are the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word #JW11 when queried on October 10, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

See: www.jivesoftware.com/jiveworld

A larger version of the image is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6234653454/sizes/l/in/ph…

Top most between users:
@jivesoftware
@gialyons
@mikefraietta
@cflanagan
@cosmopolitan_lv
@ginorossi
@kristinhersant
@thebrandbuilder
@alanlepo
@mor_trisha

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 345
Unique Edges: 3606
Edges With Duplicates: 2072
Total Edges: 5678
Self-Loops: 632
Connected Components: 11
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 9
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 334
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 5659
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 5
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.353001
Graph Density: 0.034184361
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.179

More NodeXL network visualizations are here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/11/jw11-nodexl-sna-map-for-10-october-2011/feed/ 0 SocialnetImporter for NodeXL: Import your Facebook ego-networks http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/10/socialnetimporter-for-nodexl-import-your-facebook-ego-networks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=socialnetimporter-for-nodexl-import-your-facebook-ego-networks http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/10/socialnetimporter-for-nodexl-import-your-facebook-ego-networks/#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:40:31 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4865
The Social Network Importer for NodeXL is a new graph data provider for NodeXL which enables each user to directly download and import their Facebook networks into NodeXL.  With this release, you can now download your own Facebook ego-network for analysis and visualization in NodeXL and other network analysis tools that can import GraphML.  Future releases will extract networks from Fan Pages and Groups.

The code is open and free and can be found on the CodePlex site here: http://socialnetimporter.codeplex.com/

The new Social Network Importer for NodeXL provides a new data import menu option that can be configured with this dialog box:

Facebook Spigot for NodeXL v.1.1
Social Network Importer for NodeXL v.1.1

Using the SocialNetImporter data provider can provide data that can be represented as a network visualization:

How to install the Social Network Importer for NodeXL:> Close NodeXL
> Download the zip file from http://socialnetimporter.codeplex.com/
> Unzip the file: you will find two items:

FacebookAPI.DLL
FacebookImporter.DLL

> Copy these files to the NodeXL Plug-ins Directory (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Research\Microsoft NodeXL Excel Template\PlugIns)
> Restart NodeXL: you should see the Facebook Import option in the NodeXL>Data>Import menu.

Contributors:
Arber Ceni, RWTH Aachen
Bernie Hogan, Oxford Internet Institute
Marc Smith, Connected Action LLC


The Social Network Importer for NodeXL project is coordinated by the Social Media Research Foundation which is dedicated to Open Tools, Open Data, and Open Scholarship.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/10/socialnetimporter-for-nodexl-import-your-facebook-ego-networks/feed/ 2 OOW11 in Twitter – Oracle Open World Twitter Network http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/03/oow11-in-twitter-oracle-open-world-twitter-network/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oow11-in-twitter-oracle-open-world-twitter-network http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/03/oow11-in-twitter-oracle-open-world-twitter-network/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:30:22 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=5221 Here is an updated map of the connections among people who recently tweeted the term “Oracle”:

20111005-NodeXL-Twitter-Oracle

Connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word Oracle when queried on October 5, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

Top most between users:
@benioff
@oracleopenworld
@salesforce
@arstechnica
@sai
@oracledatabase
@sapjobswithace
@kirbylunger
@capgemini
@reuters_biz

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 1000
Unique Edges: 2747
Edges With Duplicates: 827
Total Edges: 3574
Self-Loops: 1102
Connected Components: 425
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 396
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 541
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 2923
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 10
Average Geodesic Distance: 3.475208
Graph Density: 0.00226026
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.179

A related map represents the connections among people who tweeted the term #OOW11

20111003-NodeXL-Twitter-#oow11 graph 20111003-NodeXL-Twitter-#oow11 top between

These are the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word oow11 when queried on October 3, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

See: www.oracle.com/openworld/live/on-demand/index.html

Betweenness Centrality is defined here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrality#Betweenness_centrality

Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm is defined here: pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v70/i6/e066111

Top most between users:
@oracleopenworld
@oracle
@oracletechnet
@rwang0
@devops_borat
@salesforce
@mysql
@emcoracle
@oraclemix
@oracledatabase

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 670
Unique Edges: 5882
Edges With Duplicates: 1573
Total Edges: 7455
Self-Loops: 881
Connected Components: 45
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 44
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 626
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 7405
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 7
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.770009
Graph Density: 0.013401602
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.179

More NodeXL network visualizations are here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/
NodeXL is free and open and available from www.codeplex.com/nodexl
NodeXL is developed by the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation.org) – which is dedicated to open tools, open data, and open scholarship.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/03/oow11-in-twitter-oracle-open-world-twitter-network/feed/ 0 Orange in Twitter – NodeXL Social Media SNA Maps http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/03/orange-in-twitter-nodexl-social-media-sna-maps/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=orange-in-twitter-nodexl-social-media-sna-maps http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/03/orange-in-twitter-nodexl-social-media-sna-maps/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:00:38 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=5185  

Orange is a major European telecommunications provider that has been focused on what they call the “porous enterprise” – organizations in which many of the previous boundaries and barriers between businesses and customers are gone.  Social media flows in and out of companies and mixes with public collections of discussions about them. Locked down corporate laptops now are joined by employee owned mobile devices.  Consumer social media products now mingle with enterprise social media.  Corporations now engage directly with customers through public consumer social media services.

For example, Orange has several Twitter accounts.  @Orange provides general product information while @Oranger_Conseil and @OrangeHelpers provide customer support for French and English speaking customers, and @orangeapi offers technical information for developers building applications against services offered by Orange.  There are several other related accounts.

The @Orange account has 2,039 followers and is following 621.  It has 673 tweets.  The pattern of connections among these people emerges into a network that can be clustered into sub-groups:
20110930-NodeXL-Twitter-User-Orange graph

These are the connections among the Twitter users who follow or are followed by Orange when queried on September 30, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users follow one another.

A larger version of the image is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6209515710/sizes/l/in/ph…

Top most between users:
@orange
@orangebusiness
@twitter
@ygourven
@pressecitron
@frenchweb
@lionelfumado
@sosh_fr
@lemondefr
@mashable

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 1587
Unique Edges: 18724
Edges With Duplicates: 26647
Total Edges: 45371
Self-Loops: 0
Connected Components: 229
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 227
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 1358
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 45367
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 7
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.625415
Graph Density: 0.012709666
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.179

The dense follows/follower map is a network that represents potential communication, the links indicate that there is a “follows” relationship between any two people.  The network of activated connections created when people reply or mention one another is more sparse.  For example, the @Oranger_Conseil and @OrangeHelpers accounts get mentioned by a number of other users who interact with them.  The connections among these people creates a network pattern:

20110930-NodeXL-Twitter-Orange_Conseil OR Orange_Helpers graph

This is a map of the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word Orange conseil OR OrangeHelpers when queried on September 30, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

It is characterized by a hub and spoke pattern created as customers who have few connections to one another are linked to one of the hub customer service accounts for English and French speakers.

Top most between users:
@orangehelpers
@orange_conseil
@orange
@thomaslegac
@conorfromorange
@orangeripoff
@presseorange
@orangecomplaint
@lisepressac
@poupimali

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 372
Unique Edges: 474
Edges With Duplicates: 3308
Total Edges: 3782
Self-Loops: 73
Connected Components: 2
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 1
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 371
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 3781
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 4
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.356011
Graph Density: 0.008361592
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.179

Mentions of these accounts are good indications that the topic is the Orange Telecom company and not the many other Orange entities (like Orange County, the fruit, and the color, among others).  Searching for the term “Orange” or even “#Orange will likely bring back a large amount of these “name-space collisions” – overlapping uses of the term “Orange”.

20111003-NodeXL-Twitter-Orange graph

These are the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word #Orange when queried on October 3, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

This network of connections among the population of people who tweeted the term “#Orange has many “isolates” – users who do not follow, reply or mention any other person in the network.  These people all tweeted “#Orange” but they lack any connection to anyone else who did so.

The large cluster of connected users is a group of people discussing the Orange Telecom company, while the other clusters involve people discussing the colors of Autumn (Pumpkins!).

Top most between users:
@bluetouff
@laouffir
@fbrahimi
@presseorange
@damiendouani
@gregfromparis
@eogez
@thomaslegac
@isabellespanu
@challenges

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 1000
Unique Edges: 2282
Edges With Duplicates: 960
Total Edges: 3242
Self-Loops: 1170
Connected Components: 584
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 515
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 155
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 1123
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 8
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.787863
Graph Density: 0.001827828
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.179

20111003-NodeXL-Twitter-hubforum

More NodeXL network visualizations are here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/03/orange-in-twitter-nodexl-social-media-sna-maps/feed/ 0 November 22-25, 2011: Mobile Web in Africa – Johannesburg, South Africa – Social Media Mapping Workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/02/november-29-30-2011-mobile-web-in-africa-johannesburg-south-africa-social-media-mapping-workshop/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-29-30-2011-mobile-web-in-africa-johannesburg-south-africa-social-media-mapping-workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/02/november-29-30-2011-mobile-web-in-africa-johannesburg-south-africa-social-media-mapping-workshop/#comments Sun, 02 Oct 2011 13:00:48 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4609

I have enjoyed and been educated by my previous visits to South Africa and the Mobile Web in Africa conference, now in its 3rd year.

MWA gathers the many parts of the picture of mobile technologies in play across the African continent.

I will speak again at this year’s event, focusing on social media networks.  My partner is Walter Pike, a marketing professional with a specialty in digital media.

Here is the agenda for the workshop on Friday, November 25th.

Photos from the prior two years of Mobile Web Africa after the jump:

2010

Mobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaMatthew Dawes at Mobile Web Africa 2010Mobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaVincent Maher and Nicky Allen at Mobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaVincent Maher at Mobile Web Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South AfricaVincent Maher speaking at Mobile Web Afrcia 2South Africa 2010Obama around the world - South Africa 2010Carvings in South Africa 2010Vuvulezas in South Africa 2010Vuvulezas in South Africa 2010Make a call - South Africa 2010On the Gautrain in South Africa 2010Landing in JohannesburgHeathrow, UKHeathrow, UKHeathrow, UKHeathrow, UK

2009

Johannesburg, South AfricaNelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa Twitter Map made by NodeXL on display, Johannesburg, South Africa, October 13, 2009Sandton City, Johannesburg, South AfricaNelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa, Johannesburg, South AfricaMobile Web Africa at the Michelangelo Hotel, Johannesburg, South AfricaView of Sandton from Michelangelo Hotel, Johannesburg, South AfricaMichelangelo Hotel, Sandton City, Johannesburg, South AfricaSandton under construction, Johannesburg, South AfricaTelecom Tower, Johannesburg, South Africa2009 - October 14 - NodeXL - Twitter Network MWA09 X Tweets Y Followers2009 - October 14 - NodeXL - Twitter Network MWA09 Followers
]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/10/02/november-29-30-2011-mobile-web-in-africa-johannesburg-south-africa-social-media-mapping-workshop/feed/ 0 HealthTap NodeXL SNA Map for 20110928 http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/30/healthtap-nodexl-sna-map-for-20110928/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=healthtap-nodexl-sna-map-for-20110928 http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/30/healthtap-nodexl-sna-map-for-20110928/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:10:34 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=5107 HealthTap is a website that connects people with medical questions to health providers with answers.

20110928-NodeXL-Twitter-healthtap

This is a map of the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word HealthTap when queried on September 28, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

See: healthtap.com/

Layout using the “Group Layout” composed of tiled bounded regions. Clusters calculated by the Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm are also encoded by color.

A larger version of the image is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6198785341/sizes/l/in/ph…

Betweenness Centrality is defined here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrality#Betweenness_centrality

Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm is defined here: pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v70/i6/e066111

Top most between users:
@lifehacker
@healthtap
@drpam4women
@androidandme
@drpam
@amazonwireless
@jonmrich
@etseng
@mobilehealth
@doctor_v

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 638
Unique Edges: 3630
Edges With Duplicates: 1337
Total Edges: 4967
Self-Loops: 865
Connected Components: 183
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 167
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 426
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 4677
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 11
Average Geodesic Distance: 3.098025
Graph Density: 0.008715423
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.177

More NodeXL network visualizations are here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/

NodeXL is free and open and available from www.codeplex.com/nodexl
NodeXL is developed by the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation.org) – which is dedicated to open tools, open data, and open scholarship.
The book, Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world, is available from Morgan Kaufmann and from Amazon.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/30/healthtap-nodexl-sna-map-for-20110928/feed/ 0 Webshop 2011 review: 4 days, 20 talks, 45 students, an earthquake, a hurricane and many new connections http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/25/webshop-2011-review-4-days-20-talks-45-students-an-earthquake-a-hurricane-and-many-new-connections/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=webshop-2011-review-4-days-20-talks-45-students-an-earthquake-a-hurricane-and-many-new-connections http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/25/webshop-2011-review-4-days-20-talks-45-students-an-earthquake-a-hurricane-and-many-new-connections/#comments Sun, 25 Sep 2011 08:15:34 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4861  

 

Summer Social Webshop
on
Technology-Mediated Social Participation
University of Maryland, College Park
August 23-26, 2011

Eventful.  The 2011 Webshop at the University of Maryland was certainly that with both an earthquake and a hurricane to mark the start and end of the event.  We really moved heaven and earth at this workshop.

In 4  days, 20 talks, 45 students, an earthquake, a hurricane and many new connections – the Webshop touched on a set of related concepts, methods, and findings about ways to use communication and computation technology to help groups, neighborhoods, cities, states, and nations work collectively towards common goals.

Several years ago a program at the University of Maryland called “Webshop” (Web Workshop) was organized by Professor John Robinson and held for three consecutive Summers.  I visited and spoke at two of these events and know many people who attended or spoke at one or more and remember the event enthusiastically.   The students who attended include some of the now leading researchers in the field of social science studies of the internet.  There is an impressive alumni list.

The last Webshop was held in 2003 and many years and significant changes have occurred in the time since. Twitter, Facebook, StreetView, iPad,FourSquare, Android, Kinect, EC2, Mechanical Turk, Arduino, were all new or non-existent when the first Webshops were run.  Today we have more reason than ever to focus on the details and patterns of computer-mediated human association. Ever more people channel more of their communications with others through more digital media, often of the social kind.  A new data resource for the social sciences is growing in scale and promise: from billions of events it is possible to start to build a picture of an aggregate whole, and to start to grasp the terrain and landscape of social media.

After many years of inactivity, the Summer Social Webshop (@Webshop2011) happened again!  With the generous support of the National Science Foundation and additional assistance from Google Research, on August 23-26, 2011 at the University of Maryland, College Park, a group of students heard and engaged with more than two dozen leading researchers exploring digital social landscapes from a variety of perspectives.  Organized by a collaboration between the University of Maryland’s Human Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL), the College of Information Studies, the Sociology and Computer Science Department, and the Social Media Research Foundation, the event gathered students from a wide range of disciplines to get a concentrated dose of advanced efforts to gather data from social media and people’s understanding and practices around digital technologies.   Doctoral students in computer science, iSchools, sociology, communications, political science, anthropology, psychology, journalism, and related disciplines applied to attend the 4-day intensive workshop on Technology-Mediated Social Participation (TMSP).  The workshop explored the many ways social media can be applied to national priorities such as health, energy, education, disaster response, political participation, environmental protection, business innovation, or community safety.  The workshop attracted graduate students at US universities studying social-networking tools, blogs and microblogs, user-generated content sites, discussion groups, problem reporting, recommendation systems, mobile and location aware media creation, and other social media.

-

Organizers

Alan Neustadtl (@smilex3md) - Sociology, University of Maryland
Jennifer Preece (@jenpre) – iSchool, University of Maryland
Marc Smith(@Marc_Smith) - Social Media Research Foundation
Ben Shneiderman (@benbendc) - Computer Science, University of Maryland
PJ Rey (@pjrey) - Sociology, University of Maryland, Student Coordinator

-

Photos

Vladimir Barash (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandScott Golder (Cornell), Vladimir Barash and John Kelly (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandQ: Which is worse? Ignorance or apathy? A: I don't know and I don't care. From John Kelly (Morningside Analytics) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandScott Golder and John Kelly at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandScott Golder, John Kelly, and Vladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandLise Getoor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandLise Getoor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandAmy Bruckman at Webshop 2011 at University of Maryland20110825-Webshop 2011-Group at White HouseJen Golbeck at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJen Golbeck at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMugizi Robert Rwebangira at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMugizi Robert Rwebangira at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMugizi Robert Rwebangira at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandMike Nelson at Webshop 2011 at New America FoundationLee Rainie from Pew Internet at Webshop 2011 at New America FoundationTom Glaisyer at Webshop 2011 at New America FoundationWebshop 2011 at New America FoundationWebshop 2011 at New America FoundationScott Golder at the Bureaucracy Bureau - Webshop 2011Ben and Jenny at the White HouseRobert Kraut at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandAlan Neustadtl Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandAlan Neustadtl Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe and Jenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNicole Ellison at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandErwin Gianchandani at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandDelicia Greene at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandErwin Gianchandani at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe, Sarita Yardi and Scott Golder at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor presents Brian Keegan's network visualization of Wikipedia links at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCody Dunne and Vladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandEdi Chi from Google at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Bederson at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Bederson at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandLoren Terveen and Ben Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandLoren Terveen at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandPJ Rey at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Shneiderman and Jenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandOutdoors after the earthquake, Jonathan Lazar speaks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandOutdoors after the earthquake, Jonathan Lazar speaks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandOutdoors after the earthquake, Jonathan Lazar speaks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash and Scott Golder at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandDavid Sparks at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCody Dunne at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandLoren Terveen at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJonathan Lazar (Towson University) at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandSean Munson at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandVladimir Barash at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandCliff Lampe at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandCandice Roberts at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandNoshir Contractor at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandBe Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJenSchradie at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandDana Rotman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandEden Litt at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandTim Hale at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandCasey Spruill at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandPJ Rey at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWill Youmans at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandAlan Neustadtl at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandBen Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandEszter Hargittai at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandWebshop 2011 at University of MarylandTom Malone and Ben Shneiderman at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandTom Malone at Webshop 2011 at University of MarylandJenny Preece at Webshop 2011 at University of Maryland
]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/25/webshop-2011-review-4-days-20-talks-45-students-an-earthquake-a-hurricane-and-many-new-connections/feed/ 0 September 22-23, 2011: Purdue University – Lecture on Social Media Networks http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/16/september-22-23-2011-purdue-university-lecture-on-social-media-networks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=september-22-23-2011-purdue-university-lecture-on-social-media-networks http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/16/september-22-23-2011-purdue-university-lecture-on-social-media-networks/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:00:57 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4847

I will speak at Purdue University on September 22 and 23, 2011 about mapping social media networks.

My host is Sorin Matei, professor of Communications, who has been researching the social structure of social media networks.

I will also speak at Professor Matei’s class: COM 63200 On-line Interaction and Facilitation

Here is an example map of the connections among the people who tweeted the word “Purdue” on September 16th, 2011:

Connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word Purdue when queried on September 16, 2011, scaled by numbers of tweets (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

See: www.purdue.edu/

Layout using the “Group Layout” composed of tiled bounded regions. Clusters calculated by the Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm are also encoded by color.

(Edges connecting users are bundled and curved with recent features added to NodeXL v.177.)

A larger version of the image is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6155750905/sizes/o/in/ph…

Betweenness Centrality is defined here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrality#Betweenness_centrality

Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm is defined here: pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v70/i6/e066111

Top most between users:
@lifeatpurdue
@jajuanjohnson
@stfu_gabby
@purdueexponent
@charliienosheen
@mbrister2
@boilerfootball
@purduesports
@hipandresanbo
@cheesebrrrrr

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 1000
Unique Edges: 4045
Edges With Duplicates: 706
Total Edges: 4751
Self-Loops: 977
Connected Components: 429
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 395
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 528
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 4134
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 12
Average Geodesic Distance: 3.517707
Graph Density: 0.003507508
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.177

More NodeXL network visualizations are here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/

NodeXL is free and open and available from www.codeplex.com/nodexl

NodeXL is developed by the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation.org) – which is dedicated to open tools, open data, and open scholarship.

The book, Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world, is available from Morgan Kaufmann and from Amazon.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/09/16/september-22-23-2011-purdue-university-lecture-on-social-media-networks/feed/ 0 Please vote on our SxSW panel: Social Mapping: Bridging Online & Offline Events http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/08/15/please-vote-on-our-sxsw-panel-social-mapping-bridging-online-offline-events/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=please-vote-on-our-sxsw-panel-social-mapping-bridging-online-offline-events http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/08/15/please-vote-on-our-sxsw-panel-social-mapping-bridging-online-offline-events/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:35:26 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4824  

Please vote on our SxSW 2012 panel:

Social Mapping :
Bridging Online & Offline Events
SxSW Twitter Network  
Event Interactive 2012
Format Workshop
Organizer Emily Gannett ‐ IRL Productions
Speakers Marc Smith ‐ Social Media Research Foundation
Description Look up from your phone and you will notice that offline is not obsolete. Experiences in real life (IRL) remain powerful and memorable. Online tools and social platforms are now thoroughly integrated into “offline” life on smart devices in every meeting, conference, or gathering. Marketers can now tie online and offline activity together, mapping online discussions and offline connections to spur awareness, connections, and lasting conversations. Featuring insight from the Social Media Research Foundation and case studies from some of the world’s top brands, this intermediate workshop will teach techniques for integrating social media and emerging technologies with events and experiential marketing campaigns. We’ll illustrate free and open tools for collecting, analyzing and visualizing patterns of how people engage with your topic using various social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. We will review how to augment face-to-face interactions, and present case studies of interactive events that fit cohesively into established online and offline marketing campaigns. Maps of the connections that form when people communicate can reveal the key people and groups who act as your brand influencers. Learn how to make maps of your own, with no programming skills required, to guide your own engagement with stakeholders, online and off.
Questions
Answered
  1. How can marketers leverage digital media to increase the value of experiential marketing? How can they create breadth and impact beyond the transaction?
  2. What are the best new platforms and tools to leverage?
  3. What was your favorite integrated campaign this year? Which brands did an excellent job of incorporating social media at events and weaving digital throughout?
  4. What social media data can be collected at events and conferences? What can you do to better understand your customers through this information?
  5. What are the best ways to compare online and offline metrics? Do we need new standards?
Level Intermediate
Category Branding / Marketing / Advertising
Tags Events, Metrics, social media

Thanks for your vote for our SxSW panel!

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/08/15/please-vote-on-our-sxsw-panel-social-mapping-bridging-online-offline-events/feed/ 0 Zoom.it – displaying zoomable Twitter network images of the terms “FOCAS11″ or “Aspen Institute” http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/08/08/zoom-it-displaying-zoomable-network-images/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=zoom-it-displaying-zoomable-network-images http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/08/08/zoom-it-displaying-zoomable-network-images/#comments Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:39:35 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4754 Here is a nice way to display high resolution network maps: zoom.it!

This is a map of the connections among the people who tweeted the terms “FOCAS11″ or “Aspen Institute” on August 2, 2011.

Connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word Aspeninstitute OR FOCAS11 when queried on August 2, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

See: www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/communications-society…

Layout using the “Group Layout” composed of tiled bounded regions. Clusters calculated by the Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm are also encoded by color.

A larger version of the image is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/6001893675/sizes/o/

Betweenness Centrality is defined here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrality#Betweenness_centrality

Top most between users:
@aspeninstitute
@lancearmstrong
@emptywheel
@knightfdn
@pkedrosky
@bostonreview
@josefjohann
@kgosztola
@utknightcenter
@sowers

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 324
Unique Edges: 649
Edges With Duplicates: 743
Total Edges: 1392
Self-Loops: 339
Connected Components: 81
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 76
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 240
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 1284
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 7
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.67739
Graph Density: 0.007023277
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.173

More NodeXL network visualizations are here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/sets/72157622437066929/

NodeXL is free and open and available from www.codeplex.com/nodexl

NodeXL is developed by the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation.org) – which is dedicated to open tools, open data, and open scholarship.

The book, Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world, is available from Morgan Kaufmann and from Amazon.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/08/08/zoom-it-displaying-zoomable-network-images/feed/ 0 June 22, 2011: NodeXL at the NextWork Networks event in New York City http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/07/25/june-22-2011-nextwork-networks-event-in-new-york-city/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=june-22-2011-nextwork-networks-event-in-new-york-city http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/07/25/june-22-2011-nextwork-networks-event-in-new-york-city/#comments Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:00:53 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4611

On June 22nd in New York City Wired Magazine and the Economist hosted a day of discussions and displays related to the theme of “Nextwork” hosted by Juniper Networks and located at the Tribeca Rooftop.

The Social Media Research Foundation displayed and printed  Nextwork Networks maps of the connections among the people who tweeted about the conference, the speakers, and their companies.

Visit the NextWork Network booth hosted by the Social Media Research Foundation to see a map of the connections among people who tweeted the term “NextWork“.  Networks are important data structures but the tools to access, analyze and visualize networks have been hard to use.  New tools now make networks as easy to handle as making a pie chart.  NodeXL, the free and open network overview, discovery and exploration add-in for the familiar Excel spreadsheet, makes creating network diagrams and gaining insights much simpler (see: http://nodexl.codeplex.com).  Using NodeXL, we have been collecting all the tweets that mention the NextWork event and building a network map of the ways those people connect to one another.  Not everyone is equally connected: some people occupy more strategic locations in the web of connections than others.   Find out who: request your own NodeXL social media network map for your Twitter account or the name of your company or brand (or your competitors) by dropping by the booth (or visit: http://www.smrfoundation.org/nextwork2011).

Here is an example, a map of the connections among the people who recently tweeted the name “Kevin Kelly”, one of the speakers at the event:

This is a map of the connections among the people who tweeted the term “Nextwork”:

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/07/25/june-22-2011-nextwork-networks-event-in-new-york-city/feed/ 0 NodeXL Exchange Spigot: Extract social networks from enterprise email http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/07/25/nodexl-exchange-spigot-extract-social-networks-from-enterprise-email/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nodexl-exchange-spigot-extract-social-networks-from-enterprise-email http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/07/25/nodexl-exchange-spigot-extract-social-networks-from-enterprise-email/#comments Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:49:06 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4652 The widely used Microsoft Exchange email server contains many networks that are created as people reply to one another and join various groups and distribution lists.

A new NodeXL data provider (“spigot“) is now available to extract these social networks from Exchange servers.

This is the Exchange Spigot for NodeXL a configurable interface for defining and executing a query against a Microsoft Exchange email server designed to be used with NodeXL.

NodeXL is an easy to use add-in for the familiar Excel spreadsheet that adds support for network overview, discovery and exploration. The free and open NodeXL project has several import data providers that extract and display networks from popular social media network repositories like Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, the WWW and more.

By adding an Exchange Spigot to your installation of NodeXL you gain a simple way to extract networks from your own email stored on an Exchange server. With appropriate permissions and in compliance with local and legal requirements, the Exchange Spigot can access email and extract social network data across multiple email user accounts.

If available, Active Directory metadata is integrated with email data extracted from the Exchange server. Profile metadata is added to the network workbook when available (typically only for email from other employees, not people from outside your company or division).

The Exchange Spigot for NodeXL is one of several related projects to provide a connection between valuable sources of network data structures and the easy-to-use network browser, NodeXL. Additional projects have implemented connections to web crawlers, Facebook, and soon, SharePoint.

The Exchange Spigot for NodeXL project team includes: Luka Potkonjak, Milos Lazarevic, Ivan Vujic, Natasa Milic-Frayling, and Marc Smith.

The Exchange Spigot for NodeXL project is coordinated by the Social Media Research Foundation (http://www.smrfoundation.org) and receives generous support from Microsoft Research.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/07/25/nodexl-exchange-spigot-extract-social-networks-from-enterprise-email/feed/ 0 NodeXL EventGraph: ACM CHI2011 – Twitter Connections http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/05/08/eventgraph-acm-chi2011-twitter-connections/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eventgraph-acm-chi2011-twitter-connections http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/05/08/eventgraph-acm-chi2011-twitter-connections/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 03:28:17 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4543

The ACM CHI 2011 Conference is taking place in Vancouver, BC.

May 10, 2011


May 8, 2011

These are the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the word chi2011 when queried on May 8, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded). Connections created when users reply, mention or follow one another.

Layout using the “Group Layout” composed of tiled bounded regions. Clusters calculated by the Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm are also encoded by color.

A larger version of the network map is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/5701022497/sizes/o/in/ph…

Top most between users:
@chi2011
@msftresearch
@edchi
@jeffbigham
@landay
@evanmpeck
@acagamic
@clifflampe
@yardi
@eytanadar

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 421
Unique Edges: 3849
Edges With Duplicates: 324
Total Edges: 4173
Self-Loops: 0
Connected Components: 32
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 29
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 384
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 4146
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 6
Average Geodesic Distance: 2.553249
Graph Density: 0.022587943

NodeXL Version1.0.1.167

Data set in NodeXL format.

NodeXL is free and open and available from www.codeplex.com/nodexl

NodeXL is developed by the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation.org) – which is dedicated to open tools, open data, and open scholarship.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/05/08/eventgraph-acm-chi2011-twitter-connections/feed/ 0 NodeXL v.167 – New features for handling groups of nodes in a network (and a few other things) http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/05/04/nodexl-v-167-new-features-for-handling-groups-of-nodes-in-a-network-and-a-few-other-things/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nodexl-v-167-new-features-for-handling-groups-of-nodes-in-a-network-and-a-few-other-things http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/05/04/nodexl-v-167-new-features-for-handling-groups-of-nodes-in-a-network-and-a-few-other-things/#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 19:59:31 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4513 The NodeXL team at the Social Media Research Foundation is happy to announce the availability of the newest version: there is lots of new stuff in the latest release of NodeXL v.1.0.1.167!

  • Group Frames: If your graph has groups and you choose to lay out the groups in their own boxes (NodeXL, Graph, Layout, Layout Options), you can now specify the width of the box outlines.

  • Constant Edges: When you select an edge, its width no longer changes. NodeXL used to use the same width for all selected edges, even if the edges had varying widths when unselected.
  • Group and Vertex Display Harmony:
    • When a graph has groups, you now have more control over how the groups are shown. Go to NodeXL, Analysis, Groups, Group Options.
    • The NodeXL, Show/Hide, Graph Elements, Groups menu item has been replaced with a checkbox in the Group Options dialog box.

  • Right-Click Group Controls: Menu items for selecting, expanding, collapsing and removing groups are now available in the menu that appears when you right-click the graph pane. (These are just shortcuts for the same menu items that are available in the Ribbon at NodeXL, Analysis, Groups.)

  • WYSIWYCC: What You See Is What You Can Click -
    • Hidden edges and vertices (those that have their Visibility cells set to Hide) can no longer be selected in the graph pane.
    • Edges and vertices that have been filtered (NodeXL, Analysis, Dynamic Filters) can no longer be selected in the graph pane.
  • Bigger Twitter Lists: When importing a Twitter list network (NodeXL, Import, From Twitter List Network), you can now enter up to 10,000 usernames. The maximum used to be 500.
  • UCINET / Matrix Compatibility: Bug fix: When exporting the graph to a UCINET file (NodeXL, Data, Export, To UCINET Full Matrix DL File), isolated vertices didn’t get exported. When exporting the graph to a new matrix workbook (NodeXL, Data, Export, To New Matrix Workbook), isolated vertices didn’t get exported, when importing a graph from a matrix workbook (NodeXL, Data, Import, From Open Matrix Workbook), isolated vertices didn’t get imported. Now they do!

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/05/04/nodexl-v-167-new-features-for-handling-groups-of-nodes-in-a-network-and-a-few-other-things/feed/ 0 #rw2011 – A Royal Wedding NodeXL Twitter map http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/28/rw2011-a-royal-wedding-nodexl-twitter-map/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rw2011-a-royal-wedding-nodexl-twitter-map http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/28/rw2011-a-royal-wedding-nodexl-twitter-map/#comments Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:26:33 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4483 The Royal Wedding is a topic of great interest around the world.

20110428-NodeXL-Twitter-#rw2011 graph

This is a map of the connections among the Twitter users who recently tweeted the words #rw2011 when queried on April 28, 2011, scaled by numbers of followers (with outliers thresholded), connected by replying, mentioning and following.

Layout using the “Group Layout” composed of tiled bounded regions. Clusters calculated by the Clauset-Newman-Moore algorithm are also encoded by color.

A larger version of the network map is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/5666637994/sizes/o/

A detailed list of top most between users is here: www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/5666069249/

Top most between users: @nytimes, @skynews, @peoplemag, @royalweddingcnn, @itv_news, @katewilliam2011, @julieetchitv, @abc, @cbsnews, @abcroyals

Graph Metric: Value
Graph Type: Directed
Vertices: 1000
Unique Edges: 1735
Edges With Duplicates: 531
Total Edges: 2266
Self-Loops: 0
Connected Components: 271
Single-Vertex Connected Components: 246
Maximum Vertices in a Connected Component: 701
Maximum Edges in a Connected Component: 2199
Maximum Geodesic Distance (Diameter): 11
Average Geodesic Distance: 3.892905
Graph Density: 0.001984985
NodeXL Version: 1.0.1.166

NodeXL is free and open and available from www.codeplex.com/nodexl

NodeXL is developed by the Social Media Research Foundation (www.smrfoundation.org) – which is dedicated to open tools, open data, and open scholarship.

The book, Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL: Insights from a connected world, is available from Morgan Kaufmann and from Amazon.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/28/rw2011-a-royal-wedding-nodexl-twitter-map/feed/ 0 July 13-14, 2011 – Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program: NodeXL Workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/27/july-13-14-2011-oxford-internet-institute-summer-doctoral-program-nodexl-workshop/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=july-13-14-2011-oxford-internet-institute-summer-doctoral-program-nodexl-workshop http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/27/july-13-14-2011-oxford-internet-institute-summer-doctoral-program-nodexl-workshop/#comments Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:00:05 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4206

I will be speaking at the Oxford Internet Institute on July 13 and 14, 2011 as part of the Summer Doctoral Program.

Oxford University

I will speak about the use of social network analysis and visualization techniques to analyze and understand social media.

The Summer Doctoral Program is designed to

…bring together advanced doctoral students engaged in dissertation research relating to the Internet and other ICTs. By sharing their work and learning from leading academics in the field, students can enhance the quality and significance of their thesis research and create a peer network of excellent young researchers.

The 2011 Summer Doctoral Programme will draw substantially upon the OII’s research strengths and will involve participation from many of our faculty, together with colleagues from other partner institutions. It will emphasise methodological innovation and good practice in research design, and will expose students to the benefits of discussing their research in a multi-disciplinary teaching environment.”

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/27/july-13-14-2011-oxford-internet-institute-summer-doctoral-program-nodexl-workshop/feed/ 0 iConference 2011 Wiki roles paper awarded best paper – University of Washington, Seattle, WA http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/24/iconference-2011-wiki-roles-paper-awarded-best-paper-university-of-washington-seattle-wa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=iconference-2011-wiki-roles-paper-awarded-best-paper-university-of-washington-seattle-wa http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/24/iconference-2011-wiki-roles-paper-awarded-best-paper-university-of-washington-seattle-wa/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:15:22 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4105

http://www.ischools.org/iConference11/2011index/

Our paper, Finding Social Roles in Wikipedia,  about the variety of  roles people perform in Wikis received the best paper award (along with 4 others) in a field of 86 papers.   The 2011 iConference accepted 86 papers, and had about 550 attendees.

The paper is authored by: Howard T. Welser at Ohio University, Austin Lin at Cornell University and Microsoft, Dan Cosley, Fedor Dokshin, Gueorgi Kossinets and Geri Gay at  Cornell University, and Marc Smith from Connected Action.

The paper pdf pre-print is available here: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~welser/Welser.Cosley.plus.Wiki.Roles.pdf

The link to the ACM abstract and pdf: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1940778&CFID=9933318&CFTOKEN=58981138

Abstract: This paper investigates some of the social roles people play in the online community of Wikipedia. We start from qualitative comments posted on community oriented pages, wiki project memberships, and user talk pages in order to identify a sample of editors who represent four key roles: substantive experts, technical editors, vandal fighters, and social networkers. Patterns in edit histories and egocentric network visualizations suggest potential “structural signatures” that could be used as quantitative indicators of role adoption. Using simple metrics based on edit histories we compare two samples of Wikipedians: a collection of long term dedicated editors, and a cohort of editors from a one month window of new arrivals. According to these metrics, we find that the proportions of editor types in the new cohort are similar those observed in the sample of dedicated contributors. The number of new editors playing helpful roles in a single month’s cohort nearly equal the number found in the dedicated sample. This suggests that informal socialization has the potential provide sufficient role related labor despite growth and change in Wikipedia. These results are preliminary, and we describe several ways that the method can be improved, including the expansion and refinement of role signatures and identification of other important social roles.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/24/iconference-2011-wiki-roles-paper-awarded-best-paper-university-of-washington-seattle-wa/feed/ 3 July 6th to July 13th, 2011 – Web Science Trust Graduate Summer School, DERI, NUI Galway Ireland http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/24/july-6th-to-july-13th-2011-web-science-trust-graduate-summer-school-deri-nui-galway-ireland/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=july-6th-to-july-13th-2011-web-science-trust-graduate-summer-school-deri-nui-galway-ireland http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/24/july-6th-to-july-13th-2011-web-science-trust-graduate-summer-school-deri-nui-galway-ireland/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 15:00:11 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4096

Web Science Doctoral Summer School 2011

I will be attending and speaking at the upcoming 2011 Web Science Trust Graduate Summer School tobe held at DERI, NUI Galway Ireland from July 6th to July 13th, 2011.  I will speak about social media network analysis and run a workshop on using NodeXL.  There is a packed schedule featuring a great group of researchers who are gathering at the event, including:

* Prof. Wendy Hall is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, UK, and Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences.
* Prof. Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Deputy Head (Research) of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton.
* Prof. Stefan Decker is a professor at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and director of the Digital Enterprise Research Institute.
* Dr. Harith Alani is a senior lecturer at the Knowledge Media Institute, where he is heading a group specialising in Social Semantics.
* Dr. Bernie Hogan is a Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute. He specializes in novel methods for online data capture and analysis, especially via social media.
* Prof. Scott Kirkpatrick has a background in physics (AB Princeton, PhD Harvard) and 15 years of developing new technologies at IBM’s TJ Watson Research Center before coming to the Hebrew University in 2000.
* Prof. Enric Plaza holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science by the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) and is Research Professor of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).
* Prof. Steffen Staab is the director of Institute WeST – Web Science and Technologies and of the Institute for Computer Science of the University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany.
* Dr. Derek Greene is a Research Fellow at the School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin. As part of the Clique Research Cluster, his focus is on network analysis and community finding, with a particular emphasis on dynamic mobile and social media networks.
* Dr. Michael Hausenblas is a Research Fellow at DERI, NUI Galway, where he leads the Linked Data Research Centre.
* Dr. Daniele Quercia is Horizon researcher at the University of Cambridge (UK). he is interested in computational social science, web science, and social computing.
* Dr. Markus Strohmaier is an Assistant Professor at the Knowledge Management Institute, Faculty of Computer Science at Graz University of Technology.

The event is focused on the methods and theories needed to grasp the nature of the social implications of the rapid changes in the technologies of communication and computation:

“The Web is the largest technological artefact in existence, comprising a global network of information sites and services. It is a social machine, delivering information between people and communities, embedded in almost all processes of human society: education, medicine, science and technology, commerce, entertainment and social activity. It is often simply supposed that the Web is a neutral technology, a stable computing platform for the delivery of information and services. What is overlooked is that the Web is changing constantly in response to the demands of human society. Incremental innovations leads to changes in how people use the Web and in turn how Web technology responds to changed human interaction. Small technological decisions influence how individuals use the Web and ripple out to have unanticipated macro-effects. Sometimes these effects are beneficial such as the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies. Other technologies such as the rise of spam bots or ‘blackhat’ search engine optimisation techniques clutter the Web with irrelevant, distracting information. While influential corporations such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft generate huge revenues from the Web, the Web itself is owned by everyone and no-one. We need to fully understand the demands placed on the Web by human society, so that its fate does not lead to a ‘tragedy of the commons’ but to a sustainable technological resource for the future.”

http://webscience.deri.ie/index.html

Read More

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/24/july-6th-to-july-13th-2011-web-science-trust-graduate-summer-school-deri-nui-galway-ireland/feed/ 0 Mapping social networks in Twitter Lists with NodeXL (v.161) http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/05/mapping-social-networks-in-twitter-lists-with-nodexl-v-161/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mapping-social-networks-in-twitter-lists-with-nodexl-v-161 http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/05/mapping-social-networks-in-twitter-lists-with-nodexl-v-161/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 02:01:42 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4092

Lists are a recent feature of Twitter which enable users to compile collections of users to follow in a single tweet stream.  People can add up to 500 people to follow on a single list.    People on a list may be connected to one another if one follows the other.

Some people on a list may have many connections.  Some have only a few or even no connections to others on the list.

In version 161 of NodeXL you may now create maps of the connections among a list of Twitter users.

There are two options in this feature.  One makes use of the List functions in Twitter.  If you request the map for a single twitter list, NodeXL will build a map of the connections among all the people Twitter reports as being on the list.  You can create and manage the people on a list using the Twitter list features, or select an existing Twitter list created by other users.

A second option in this feature accepts a list of up to 10,000 twitter user names pasted into the query text box.  If you have a list of users and want a map of how they are connected, and the list is not already in Twitter, just paste them here and get a map.

Either way, a connection will be created for every two users if one follows the other.

Here is an example of the network map of the Twitter list of social network analysis people maintained by Valdis Krebs: valdiskrebs\network-analysts

 

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/04/05/mapping-social-networks-in-twitter-lists-with-nodexl-v-161/feed/ 5 Group-in-a-box – a new layout option in NodeXL (v.164) http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/17/group-in-a-box-a-new-layout-option-in-nodexl-v-164/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=group-in-a-box-a-new-layout-option-in-nodexl-v-164 http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/17/group-in-a-box-a-new-layout-option-in-nodexl-v-164/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:29:09 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4222 Attractive and well designed network visualization layouts are complex to automate.  Many researchers have devoted a great deal of effort to refining algorithms that assign the best set of positions to a set of nodes.  In many cases a layout algorithm will work well for some types of graphs and not others.  NodeXL has a few network visualization layout algorithms to choose from (Harel-Koren and Fruchterman-Reingold) and we plan to add one or two more in the coming months based on leading new approaches to automated layout.

Today, we release a new NodeXL feature in version  .164  that we think will improve the results generated by other layout algorithms: Group Layout.  In the Layout Options menu in the NodeXL Network Graph Pane (called “Document Actions” by Excel) you will find that the dialog box has been updated:

Selecting the new “Lay out each of the graph’s groups in its own box and sort the boxes by group size” option and checking the “Show each box’s outline” can generate an image that neatly places each group in a bounded region.

20110313-NodeXL-Twitter-msrtf11 OR techfest group layout

Here we see the set of connections among the people who tweeted the string “msrtf11 OR techfest” – referring to the Microsoft Research TechFest 2011 event that took place in early March in Redmond, Washington.  This map clarifies the set of set of relationships among sub-groups within the graph.

Contrast this with the layout created without this feature turned on:

We still have some refinements coming that will improve this layout further (for example, the neat grid of isolated nodes takes an extra step today, we will try to make that happen automatically soon) but this is a nice step in making network graphs easier to understand.  Let us know what you think!

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/17/group-in-a-box-a-new-layout-option-in-nodexl-v-164/feed/ 2 How to build a collection of influential followers in Twitter using social network analysis and NodeXL http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/how-to-build-a-collection-of-influential-followers-in-twitter-using-social-network-analysis-and-nodexl/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-build-a-collection-of-influential-followers-in-twitter-using-social-network-analysis-and-nodexl http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/how-to-build-a-collection-of-influential-followers-in-twitter-using-social-network-analysis-and-nodexl/#comments Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:38:29 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4183

Here is a recipe for finding and building collections of influential Twitter users relevant to your goal and message.

A common question related to social media that I am often asked is: “how do we grow our twitter followers?”  I try to re-frame that question as “how can we get our message viewed by the right people?” and its related question: “who could best pass our message along?”

The goal is not to gain many followers, but rather to gain well positioned followers!  A well positioned follower is someone who talks about topics related to your topic and is located at the center of many relationships with other people in that topic network.  These highly central people are able to get their message to be visible to many people. If they re-tweet you, your message will go far.  Why would they re-tweet you?  First, they have to be able to hear you to re-tweet you and that means that you need to get these people to follow you.  Second, you need to say something sensible enough to be worth re-tweeting.

The task is finding the important users to focus on.  To find them, create a network map of the relevant topics.  A few people in these network maps will occupy key positions in which they have many connections or have special ties that bridge gaps between sub-groups.  There are often only a few of these people in any topic area.

20110121-NodeXL-Twitter-stateoftheunion high between users

Find these strategically located people and follow them and often they will follow you back. A good proxy for the strategic value of a person’s location is their “betweenness centrality” – a measure of how much a person acts a bridge between others.

20110121-NodeXL-Twitter-stateoftheunion top between users list

If the people you select and follow do not immediately follow you back there is another opportunity to get them to follow you.  If you re-tweet particularly good content from the people you have selected to follow there is a good chance that you will be followed back.

Once you have identified, followed, and been followed back by some fraction of the influential people around your topics of interest you have a increased chance that your tweets will be re-tweeted.  For each re-tweet, your message is exposed to a potentially large and highly targeted group of people.  Over time it is possible to create a relationship with a collection of highly influential participants who may be interested in sharing your message with their followers.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/how-to-build-a-collection-of-influential-followers-in-twitter-using-social-network-analysis-and-nodexl/feed/ 0 11 March 2011: San Francisco – Future of Networks event http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/11-march-2011-san-francisco-future-of-networks-event/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=11-march-2011-san-francisco-future-of-networks-event http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/11-march-2011-san-francisco-future-of-networks-event/#comments Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:27:52 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4142

On 11 March 2011, I will be speaking at:

Organizational and Social Media Network Analysis:
Next Practices in Organizational Networks, Analytics and Media

Along with Valdis Krebs, Chief Scientist, http://thenetworkthinkers.com/


Valdis will be speaking about Organizational Network Analysis - Introduction to Enterprise Networks, followed by a InFlow 3.1 Workshop: Social Network Analysis with InFlow 3.1

I will be speaking about Social Media Network Analysis with NodeXL.

Preservation Park
1233 Preservation Park Way
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 874-7580
(click for map)


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]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/11-march-2011-san-francisco-future-of-networks-event/feed/ 0 10 March 2011: USC Marshall School of Business: Communication Technology Executive Roundtable http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/10-march-2011-usc-marshall-school-of-business-communication-technology-executive-roundtable/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=10-march-2011-usc-marshall-school-of-business-communication-technology-executive-roundtable http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/10-march-2011-usc-marshall-school-of-business-communication-technology-executive-roundtable/#comments Sun, 06 Mar 2011 02:31:45 +0000 Marc Smith http://www.connectedaction.net/?p=4126

Institute for Communication Technology Management

http://www.marshall.usc.edu/faculty/centers/ctm/events

On March 10th, 2011 I will speak on a panel at the USC Marshall School of Business Institute for Communication Technology Management Executive Roundtable.

TIME: March 10th, 11:00 AM
LOCATION: Davidson Conference Center, USC Campus, Los Angeles, California
TITLE: “Digital as Platform: Cloud, Apps & Mobile Networks”
Moderator:
Sherri Brown, Vice President Enterprise IT Infrastructure Network & Hosting Services, Disney
Panelists:
Bill Rusitzky, Vice President, Partner Alliances, Adobe
Darrell Jordan-Smith, Former Vice President, Oracle
Kerry McGuire Balanza, Director, Strategic Marketing, ARM
Marc Smith, Chief Social Scientist, Connected Action Consulting Group, Co-Founder Social Media Research Foundation
Paul D’Alessandro, Principal, Diamond/PWC
We will be discussing trends in the communications and information technology market.  Topics of focus include breaking out of the walled garden and turning technologies into standards and platforms, enabling content to move across all devices and platforms, coping with the proliferation of devices and standards, securing and ensuring reliability, and upcoming game changes and innovations.

]]> http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/03/05/10-march-2011-usc-marshall-school-of-business-communication-technology-executive-roundtable/feed/ 0 2011 State of the Union: Mapping the connections among Twitter users who tweet about SOTU http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/01/22/2011-state-of-the-union-mapping-the-connections-among-twitter-users-who-tweet-about-sotu/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2011-state-of-the-union-mapping-the-connections-among-twitter-users-who-tweet-about-sotu http://www.connectedaction.net/2011/01/22/2011-state-of-the-union-mapping-the-connections-among-twitter-users-who-tweet-about-s