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Hashtag Lifespan and Social Networks during the London Riots

  • Conference paper
Book cover Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction (SBP 2013)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 7812))

Abstract

Social media is a powerful medium for rapidly sharing information and organizing response in times of crisis or extreme events. Twitter users have adopted a convention of hashtags to support this and other uses of microblogging services. Using Twitter data from the 2011 London riots, we analyze emergent social networks directly relating to response to crisis. We examine networks of riot response oriented around cleanup or prayer activities. These networks differ in size, structure, general membership, and prominent actors. We explore whether temporal patterns observed in social media, such as hashtag “lifespan,” may relate to observed social processes and behaviors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, USA

    Kimberly Glasgow

  2. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA

    Kimberly Glasgow & Clayton Fink

Authors
  1. Kimberly Glasgow
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  2. Clayton Fink
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Physics Laboratory, Research and Exploratory Development Department, Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, 20723, Laurel, MD, USA

    Ariel M. Greenberg  & Nathan D. Bos  & 

  2. Center for Social Complexity, Department of Computational Social Science, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, 22030, Fairfax, VA, USA

    William G. Kennedy

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Glasgow, K., Fink, C. (2013). Hashtag Lifespan and Social Networks during the London Riots. In: Greenberg, A.M., Kennedy, W.G., Bos, N.D. (eds) Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling and Prediction. SBP 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7812. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37210-0_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37210-0_34

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-37209-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-37210-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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