Starting methods four my sampling logic focused around continuing to expand my over all research theme about media in relation to time. I used the advanced search settings to limit my data to the week directly following the shooting of Michael Brown (August 9-16). Then I selected the network focus be on text, picture, video, and hyperlink each individually in tern. I exported the network maps that these 4 particular searches yielded and analysed them.
There were several structural relations that become apparent when looking at my maps. In the first week after the shooting all four types of media where featured in tweets (text, images, videos and hyperlinks) however, the rate at which they were used and the reach achieved by the tweets were not the equal. Tweets feature pictures, closely followed by text only tweets seemed to take the cake as far as reach and overall visibility are concerned. While videos and hyperlink did not seem to be as popular during the first week after the shooting. Something that my maps are missing is a comparison to another time period during all of the Fergus drama. I feel that this has a large significance in understanding the overall importance of different types of media in tweets.
I plan to continue this mapping technique when I do the research for my final project to check a hypothesis I have. That being that hyperlinks my see a serge a significant time after an incident occurs. Links usually direct people to full news articles of blogs, which take longer to write and might not be as fast to hit the press. Using other concepts we have used in class like tagging tweets that feature one specific type of media I will also be able to cross sectionally compare my data further.
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