Unveiling Community Dynamics on Instagram Political Network

Online Social Networks (OSNs) allow users to generate and consume content in an easy and personalized way. Among OSNs, Instagram has seen a surge in popularity, and political actors exploit it to reach people at scale, bypassing traditional media and often triggering harsh debates with and among followers. Uncovering the structural properties and dynamics of such interactions is paramount for understanding the online political debate. This is a challenging task due to both the size of the network and the nature of interactions. In this paper, we define a probabilistic model to extract the backbone of the interaction network among Instagram commenters and, after that, we uncover communities. We apply our model to 10 weeks of comments centered around election times in Brazil and Italy. We monitor both politicians and other categories of influencers, finding persistent commenters, i.e., those who often comment together on Instagram posts. Our methodology allows us to unveil interesting facts: i) commenters’ networks are split into few communities; ii) community structure in politics is weaker than in general profiles, indicating that the political debate is a blur, with some commenters bridging strongly opposed political actors; and iii) communities engaging on political profiles are bigger, more active and more stable during electoral period

Online Popularity and Topical Interests through the Lens of Instagram

Online socio-technical systems can be studied as proxy of the real world to investigate human behavior and social interactions at scale. Here we focus on Instagram, a media-sharing online platform whose popularity has been rising up to gathering hundred millions users. Instagram exhibits a mixture of features including social structure, social tagging and media sharing. The network of social interactions among users models various dynamics including follower/followee relations and users' communication by means of posts/comments. Users can upload and tag media such as photos and pictures, and they can "like" and comment each piece of information on the platform. In this work we investigate three major aspects on our Instagram dataset: (i) the structural characteristics of its network of heterogeneous interactions, to unveil the emergence of self organization and topically-induced community structure; (ii) the dynamics of content production and consumption, to understand how global trends and popular users emerge; (iii) the behavior of users labeling media with tags, to determine how they devote their attention and to explore the variety of their topical interests. Our analysis provides clues to understand human behavior dynamics on socio-technical systems, specifically users and content popularity, the mechanisms of users' interactions in online environments and how collective trends emerge from individuals' topical interests.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, Proceedings of ACM Hypertext 201

On network backbone extraction for modeling online collective behavior

Collective user behavior in social media applications often drives several important online and offline phenomena linked to the spread of opinions and information. Several studies have focused on the analysis of such phenomena using networks to model user interactions, represented by edges. However, only a fraction of edges contribute to the actual investigation. Even worse, the often large number of non-relevant edges may obfuscate the salient interactions, blurring the underlying structures and user communities that capture the collective behavior patterns driving the target phenomenon. To solve this issue, researchers have proposed several network backbone extraction techniques to obtain a reduced and representative version of the network that better explains the phenomenon of interest. Each technique has its specific assumptions and procedure to extract the backbone. However, the literature lacks a clear methodology to highlight such assumptions, discuss how they affect the choice of a method and offer validation strategies in scenarios where no ground truth exists. In this work, we fill this gap by proposing a principled methodology for comparing and selecting the most appropriate backbone extraction method given a phenomenon of interest. We characterize ten state-of-the-art techniques in terms of their assumptions, requirements, and other aspects that one must consider to apply them in practice. We present four steps to apply, evaluate and select the best method(s) to a given target phenomenon. We validate our approach using two case studies with different requirements: online discussions on Instagram and coordinated behavior in WhatsApp groups. We show that each method can produce very different backbones, underlying that the choice of an adequate method is of utmost importance to reveal valuable knowledge about the particular phenomenon under investigation

NAHDLATUL ULAMA AS THE MAIN ACTOR MANAGING AND RESETTING CIVILIZATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA TOWARDS HUMAN HARMONY AND WORLD PEACE

Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan Q-DAS (Qualitative Data Analysis Software) yang menggabungkan model gabungan antara tinjauan literatur dan netnografi pada kanal YouTube “TVNU”, akun media sosial para ulama Nahdlatul Ulama, dan situs-situs web Islam moderat yang dikelola oleh tim siber dan jaringan yang berafiliasi dengan Nahdlatul Ulama. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengamati dan menganalisis peran NU sebagai aktor utama dalam menata ulang dan menciptakan harmoni umat manusia, serta mewujudkan perdamaian dunia dengan memperkuat literasi di era digital dalam rangka memperingati 1 abad berdirinya NU. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwasannya dengan adanya sumber daya yang dimiliki oleh Nahdlatul Ulama dapat menjadi modal utama menjaga, merawat, dan mendinginkan iklim media sosial dan digital yang seringkali memanas dan berkecambuk seiring perubahan dinamika keagamaan dan politik dalam negeri maupun luar negeri. Penciptaan informasi dan narasi inklusif-moderat secara masif juga harus dilakukan oleh NU mulai dari basis struktural yakni para tokoh berpengaruh yang mempunyai basis pengikut besar di media sosialnya, hingga basis kultural yaitu masyarakat Nahdliyin di jagad digital demi terwujudnya perdamaian dunia internasional, alam semesta yang terawat rapi, dan peradaban manusia yang terbangun kembali untuk kemaslahatan manusia dan masa depan dunia di masa mendatang

Modeling and Analyzing Collective Behavior Captured by Many-to-Many Networks

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Selfies, Communications and Female Students Self– Presentation in Social Network Sites (SNS)

The paper seeks to uncover how the three pronged dynamics of culture, personality and religion have shaped the 3W’s and H namely What, Why, Where and How in relation to selfie utilization and self-presentation on Social Networking Sites (SNS). Using quantitative  (descriptive survey) rather than the “usual” qualitative approaches used by researchers in the area of selfie studies, this paper examines many variables that highlighted novel undercurrents in the use of selfie by female university students. A total of 370 female students of the University of Uyo were surveyed and another 350 – student member study group was created on SNS to aggregate their views on why they engage in selfies and possible satisfaction from such engagement. The findings reveal that selfie posting by female university student are driven more by personality (59%) and religious orientations (14%) rather than culture (5%),this paper also reveals that female students who engaged in selfiedidso forself-presentation and self-fulfilment. In essence,this paper argues that selfie use on SNSs is not motivated by sociocultural or national issues but by students moods, self - actualisation, and as a way to present preferred self  and image on the SNSs. These, the paper concludes, are disconnected from socio economic cum cultural realities that people hope youths should engage in their SocialNetwork Sites interaction.. Keywords: Social Network Site (SNS), self-presentation, communication, selfieand  students

Exploring young Saudi women's engagement with social media : feminine identities, culture and national image

PhD ThesisWith the rising popularity of social media in the last decade and a half, young women in Saudi Arabia have been utilising these platforms to negotiate values and norms in relation to issues such as veiling, work, their place within the private sphere, and their relationships with the opposite-sex. The aim of this thesis is to understand how the rise of social media engagement is impacting long-held traditions and values about Saudi women, and how their social media use is impacting on their public national image. The research addresses the interplay between Saudi conservative nationalists, who wish to preserve a traditional image of femininity that is highly tied to notions of piety and deference, and the Saudi women who, through social media, are actively challenging these longstanding views on how women should behave in society. Drawing on Nancy Fraser’s notion of counterpublics (Fraser 1991), this research argues that the democratic potential of social media platforms, independent of cultural and state laws that serve to direct, control and determine the attitudes and behaviour of young Saudi women, has facilitated the emergence of a counterpublic in which alternate contemporary identities are expressed and represented. By employing a triangulation approach for collecting data within a constructivist research paradigm, this research draws on four sets of data. Firstly, it uses netnography to observe the public accounts of seven female social media influencers. Secondly, it observes the personal accounts of nine Saudi women. A third set of data consists of six one-to-one interviews. Finally, a fourth set of data entails seven focus groups involving an overall sample of 36 participants. Using thematic analysis, this research argues that Saudi women, particularly younger women, using social media are adopting a more critical view of traditional customs surrounding femininity and women’s place in a society constructed through a collectivist ideology towards more individualistic values, norms and social ties that emphasise agency and autonomy (Giddens, 1991). I also argue that Saudi women active on social media are modernising the national public image of Saudi women. By engaging with Dobson’s (2015) study of post-feminist digital culture, I explore the contemporary ideals of Saudi femininity that are portrayed on social media by the young Saudi women I observe in this research and I document the complex and many ways these women can now be in the world. I find that women’s engagement with social media is challenging traditional values and norms and performing a vanguard role in reimagining the public national image of Saudi women today

Exploring the German-Language Twittersphere: Network Analysis of Discussions on the Syrian and Ukrainian Refugee Crises

This study conducts a comparative analysis of Twitter communication networks relating to the Syrian and Ukrainian refugee crises. Employing a network analysis approach, the study uses approximately 660,000 tweets to gain insights into the online discussion communities surrounding these crises. Tweets specifically discussing Syrian refugees were collected between 2015 and 2023, while those about Ukrainians were harvested from 2022 to 2023, utilizing the full-archive search endpoint of the Twitter API. By transforming retweets into communication networks between users, the study investigates the community structure within these networks. The findings reveal that the online anti-refugee community is smaller in size, more active, highly interconnected, and transcends national boundaries, in contrast to the opposing communities. These results underscore the need for increased social media engagement of pro-refugee voices and improved moderation practices to foster a more inclusive virtual public sphere

Understanding city dynamics: using geolocated social media in a problem-based activity as an investigative tool to enhance student learning

Research that tackles the pedagogical use of geolocated social media as an investigative tool for understanding cities in Geography and Urban Studies higher education programs has not been fully exploited. This study contributes by addressing the transferability of these sources as a research medium for enhancing student knowledge of urban phenomena. A collaborative problem-based learning activity was conducted in a third-year compulsory Urban Studies module of the Fundamentals in Architecture Degree at the University of Alicante. Two groups – Spanish (25 students) and English (34 students) language, participated in the activity. Foursquare and Twitter datasets were used as sources of information, and scaffolding in QGIS software, data analysis, and visualization tools were provided. Pre- and post- activity questionnaires as well as the work submitted by students gave an indication of the extent to which the activity was useful for achieving the set objective. Recurring approaches adopted by students and their “how-to” make sense of social media information enabled them to align spatiotemporal and social phenomena to the use and perception of city spaces. Students developed critical thinking and interpretative skills that are key transversal competencies for understanding the huge volume of data available in today’s digitalized world.This research was cofounded by the Vice-rectorate of Research and Knowledge Transfer of the University of Alicante, Spain (GRE18-19) and the Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital. Generalitat Valenciana, Spain (GV/2021/177)