University of Melbourne 2017

Social Media in Australia: A ‘Big Data’ Perspective on Twitter

Axel Bruns

• 4 April 2017 – Invited guest lecture, University of Melbourne

Twitter research to date has focussed mainly on the study of isolated events, as described for example by specific hashtags or keywords relating to elections, natural disasters, public events, and other moments of heightened activity in the network. This limited focus is determined in part by the limitations placed on large-scale access to Twitter data by Twitter, Inc. itself. This research presents the first ever comprehensive study of a national Twittersphere as an entity in its own right. It examines the structure of the follower network amongst some 4 million Australian Twitter accounts and the dynamics of their day-to-day activities, and explores the Australian Twittersphere’s engagement with specific recent events.