St. Lawrence University

Introduction

Computational methods for sorting and organizing data can have enormous benefits, especially when there’s a large amount of data to process. Hand encoding, in contrast, can be tremendously labor intensive, yet some types of distinctions that are all but impossible for a computer to make are comparatively easy for a person. Understanding differences between these tagging methods is a crucial aspect of studying Twitter.

TagCloud of Hashtags (Machine Encoded)

wcvb HOUSTON HappeningNow priorities America prayforferguson smh GOP KKK justsaying HTGAWM GrandJuryDecision Mockingjay FreeTheHLF5 pjnet StreamTeam OpDefense merica racist IndicttheSystem nixon wontendwell BillCosby p2 DarrenWilson Reuters FOX13 RedNationRising BlackPanic LAPD HBCUs4Justice Uniteblue RekiaBoyd riots Holder SleepyHollow GovNixon abc Boston FergusonRiotTrips ProtestInPeace rome ArrestDarrenWilson republicans mich politics Castle OpKKK HandsUpDontShoot Gruber nerdland JusticeForMichaelBrown StopObamasAmnesty Morehouse WATCH Ouch HumanRights besafe BlackTwitter ACAB tcot Occupy OfficerWilson freedomofspeech FergusonMissouri NeverForget teaparty runforjustice Manipulation DONTSHOOT lgbt MikeBrown WTF ccot AkaiGurley none MTP solidarity insane FAIL prayforSTL niteblue PrayForPeace FergusonGrandJury anonymous fergusongrandjurydecision staywoke OneLove cbs ImmigrationAction inequality MO 148feet DanIsom tgdn tlot TheLead Thanksgiving FergusonDecision lnyhbt FoolsErrand ShutItDown MH370 ksdk BlackFriday Sad FergusonRiotTips ff ShantelDavis FergusonLive indictment history STL protest knowyourrights obama cantrussit 108Days wilson Pray4Ferguson Missouri gretawire HowToGetAwayWithMurder TrayvonMartin FergusonVerdict IndictTheCop FergusonNovember BreakingNews Sitroom News hate KHOU Unbelievable riot on STANDFORSOMETHING FergusonPHL JusticeForMikeBrown PantsUpDontLoot caring USA police MichaelBrown Clayton United DearFerguson FoxNews mikebrownverdict FergusonAction US nojusticenopeace Cleveland fox25 Respect SleepyHolla Hagel live Peacefully Atlanta VerdictOutcome CNRapp FTP wpxi AC360 TooManyToName anarchy Bullshit JordanDavis EyesOnFerguson MikeBrownMeans woke NoJusticeNoProfit CashinIn ThugMentality NY oakland Ebola grandjury verdict PrayersForFerguson inners pray OpFerguson STLTogether fox5atl VerdictDay Ohio justice HoodsOff nbc racism Fergsuon IndictDarrenWilson BlackLivesMatter msnbc GrandJuryVerdict Chicago NYC changePenang JayNixon martiallaw MTVStars GuardianCam FrancisSlay DarrenWilsonVerdict Ferguson factsonly alert handsup AnonymousOpFerguson 2A MLK Seattle LifeofJulia Shaw BREAKING fb politicsnation DEM TamirRice injustice protesters Chi2Ferguson Spelman NYPD UnionSquare boil Fox7 Fox NoPhoneCall libcrib indictwilson PoliceState FilmThePolice Trayvon FergusonEverywhere FreeMarissa TheDecision RIPMikeBrown sa Pittsburgh disrespect peace policebrutality StLouis Palestine MarissaAlexander CNN icant whitesupremacy