[Air-L] Egypt: Assessing Facebook, Twitter, social networks

[Devin Gaffney]

I can't answer the question directly, as its profoundly difficult to say with certainty in any direction (as we all know), but I do have a bunch of data on the subject so far. Hopefully someone can find use from it for publication or general research on this question, as I'm busy with a few other projects right now.

The timing was less than ideal (I was busy with life and neglected to put the term into our collector), but over a variety of words, we have 4.5 million tweets containing terms like #jan25, #mubarak, #egypt, Mubarak, and Egypt. The data is currently being compiled as one full dataset, but individual sets are available at 140kit now. Included on our site is some automatically generated cursory analysis. The full dataset (which is still being compiled) will range from Jan 27-Feb 10 approximately. Earlier data would be nice, but it requires someone throwing in the term on our site.

http://140kit.com/Devin/collections/2454

On the page, there are links to raw dumps of data. If anyone is interested, I will let you know when the full range is complete. 

Devin Gaffney


On Feb 15, 2011, at 3:29 PM, simon collister wrote:

> 
> Dan McQuillan at Goldsmiths has an interesting, initial take: http://www.internetartizans.co.uk/socnets_with_old_tech_egypt
> 
> 
> www.simoncollister.com | http://twitter.com/simoncollister
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> From: ik at mgovernment.org
>> Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:55:06 +0100
>> To: wellman at chass.utoronto.ca
>> CC: justine.abigail at gmail.com; citasa at list.citasa.org; lrainie at pewinternet.org; air-l at aoir.org
>> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Egypt: Assessing Facebook, Twitter, social networks
>> 
>> Hi tehre,
>> 
>> I am also looking at this.. More particularly  am interested in the use of mobile phones and SMS during the protests (if any one has any data / writings)..
>> 
>> Thank you
>> kushchu
>> 
>> On 15 Feb 2011, at 23:50, Barry Wellman wrote:
>> 
>>> It's clear to all readers of Twitter and the MSM that Facebook and Twitter played a role in the Egyptian movement that toppled Mubarak.
>>> 
>>> But how much of a role? More generally, how much were social networks involved?
>>> 
>>> There's so much speculation, that I really don't want more.
>>> BUT
>>> I would appreciate systematic evidence -- be it ethnographic, online analyses, or survey based -- even though it may be early for that to appear. I am thinking of the work that Joe Feagin did on 1968's ghetto riots; the ongoing work of Doug McAdam over the years.
>>> 
>>> I wonder if anyone interviewed the folks in Tahrir Square (besides the secret police), just as Feagin interviewed folks in Detroit jails, and would love to read some personal accounts.
>>> 
>>> In hope that things turn out well in Egypt!
>>> 
>>> Barry Wellman
>>> _______________________________________________________________________
>>> 
>>> S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC               NetLab Director
>>> Department of Sociology                  725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388
>>> University of Toronto   Toronto Canada M5S 2J4   twitter:barrywellman
>>> http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman             fax:+1-416-978-3963
>>> Updating history:      http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
>>> _______________________________________________________________________
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>> ------
>> IBRAHIM KUSHCHU, MBA, MSC., PHD
>> Associate Professor and Founding Director,
>> Mobile Government Consortium International, UK
>> http://www.mgovernment.org
>> ik at mgovernment.org
>> +44 1273 327876
>> 
>> - Visit mLife Conferences http://www.m4life.org
>> 
>> 
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