Method 4 : Network Mapping

In order to complete method four I began with constructing my network. The way I constructed my network was by using terms that related to my final project. The key words I used for sampling were COPS or POLICE or LAW ENFORCEMENT or #BLACKLIVESMATTER. I made my search during the time period Mike Brown was killed to Thanksgiving of that year. After performing these actions I worked on analyzing how many extended networks came off the largest network on my map.
The structure of my tweets showed relations of different activists reflecting off one another tweets. The top tweeter in on my map was Antonio French who was an activists. His tweets were connected to different tweeters throughout the map. He also had some influence on some of the other popular tweeters involved in my map. It was apparent that many of the tweets involved were retweets. Most people who were labeled activists used more tweets with photographs for physical evidence and to show the overwhelming amounts of mass the police were adding in Ferguson. As I analyzed the tweets further towards the day the decision was made on Darren Wilson’s verdict there were tweets which talked about Wilson himself, tweets about how there should be more justice, and tweets about not feeling safe around police. I think my maps can show the reaction of people more towards the time Mike Brown was shot compared to showing more tweets near the decision. It is significant to see this in the map so I can analyze if the top tweeters were the same and the primary reaction to his death.
I believe my map follows the homophily concept because most of the tweeters in the map are all stemming from the same network. All the tweets are in common about the police. It reflects the snowball article by representing echo chambers. The more tweets I analyzed the more retweets I saw supporting the fight against police brutality. Everyone who were tweeting seemed to have the same objective. It seemed their objective was to represent a community fighting against oppression.