Korean Politicians' Networks on Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Twitter

Singapore.
Wahey - we're in the last day of ICA 2010, which starts with a session on Web 2.0. Chien-leng Hsu is the first presenter, focussing on social link networks especially on Twitter. There are suggestions that offline and online relationships may be co-constructed; in Korea, in particular, many politicians are also using online media to communicate with their constituencies. Others suggests that online media are a fragmenting influence - but Twitter is also seen as an important tool for information dissemination.

So, how are networks changing from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, and there especially with the move to Twitter - and how do offline patterns relate to online patterns? In mapping networks, density and degree of centralisation are especially useful measures to examine this.

For Web 1.0, the study collected links from the homepages of South Korean Assembly members in 2000 and 2001; for Web 2.0, blogrolls of Assembly members in 2005 and 2006 were collected; and finally, for Twitter, the lists of followers and followees of Assemly members' Twitter account were collected.

The 2001 network included 245 members, with a low density and a limited centralisation. This changed with blogs: 99 members, higher density, and much higher centralisation. Finally, on Twitter, there is a yet higher density, and a comparable centralisation.

Overall, then, the Web 1.0 network was becoming a centralised 'star' network; a few members were acting as hubs for all others. Party membership determined linking patterns (and it should be noted that there was a presidential election in 2001, probably affecting linkage patterns). In the blog phase, hubs disappeared and a more sophisticated network emerged; there was more general interlinkage, but still with clear boundaries between parties, and the then-oppositional Grand National Party was most prominent. There appeared to be a tendency towards balkanisation in the network. On Twitter, it is notable that just under 10% members have a Twitter account at present, but they are linked more strongly across party boundaries.

Obviously, there are a range of distinct online behaviours in the three phases - and these reflect party structures and politicians' offline behaviours to some extent. Opposition groups appear to be more likely to use alternative media.

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