the use of twitter hashtags in the formation of ad hoc publics
DESCRIPTION
Paper by Axel Bruns and Jean Burgess, presented at the ECPR 2011 conference, Reykjavík, 26 Aug. 2011.TRANSCRIPT
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
The Use of Twitter Hashtags in the Formation of Ad Hoc Publics
Axel Bruns and Jean BurgessARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and InnovationQueensland University of TechnologyBrisbane, Australia
a.bruns / [email protected]@snurb_dot_info / @jeanburgesshttp://mappingonlinepublics.net/
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
#hashtags on Twitter
o Hashtag =‘#’ + some alphanumeric characters: automatic tracking & aggregation of a topic, represented with a hyperlink
o Originally a (lead) user innovation, later integrated into platform
o Simple, adaptive and generativeo Can coordinate, render visible, and
constitute publics
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Introduction & Contestation
In 2007, Twitter didn’t have trending topics, integrated search or hashtags
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Introduction & Contestation
See: http://factoryjoe.com/blog/2007/08/25/groups-for-twitter-or-a-proposal-for-twitter-tag-channels/
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Introduction & Contestation
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Introduction & Contestation
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Adoption & Retention
o Compelling use cases, uptake by influential lead users
o Very simple architectural integration (built-in ‘tracking’ feature)
o Uptake in external developer community (Twitter Search, hashtags.org etc)
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Popularisation & Proliferation…
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Popularisation & Proliferation…
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Popularisation & Proliferation…
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Popularisation & Proliferation…
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Popularisation & Proliferation…
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
#hashtag publics
Publics o Attend to matters of shared concern with some
level of co-awarenesso Varied in intensity and temporalityo Emergent, constituted via discourse & affect
#hashtag publicso Not all hashtags constitute publics; Twitter doesn’t
‘contain’ publicso What are the various patterns in the dynamics of
different hashtag-based publics?o What might account for these differences?
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
2010
-Jun-
23 0
0
2010
-Jun-
23 0
1
2010
-Jun-
23 0
2
2010
-Jun-
23 0
3
2010
-Jun-
23 0
4
2010
-Jun-
23 0
5
2010
-Jun-
23 0
6
2010
-Jun-
23 0
7
2010
-Jun-
23 0
8
2010
-Jun-
23 0
9
2010
-Jun-
23 1
0
2010
-Jun-
23 1
1
2010
-Jun-
23 1
2
2010
-Jun-
23 1
3
2010
-Jun-
23 1
4
2010
-Jun-
23 1
5
2010
-Jun-
23 1
6
2010
-Jun-
23 1
7
2010
-Jun-
23 1
8
2010
-Jun-
23 1
9
2010
-Jun-
23 2
0
2010
-Jun-
23 2
1
2010
-Jun-
23 2
2
2010
-Jun-
23 2
3
2010
-Jun-
24 0
0
2010
-Jun-
24 0
2
2010
-Jun-
24 0
3
2010
-Jun-
24 0
4
2010
-Jun-
24 0
5
2010
-Jun-
24 0
6
2010
-Jun-
24 0
7
2010
-Jun-
24 0
8
2010
-Jun-
24 0
9
2010
-Jun-
24 1
0
2010
-Jun-
24 1
1
2010
-Jun-
24 1
2
2010
-Jun-
24 1
3
2010
-Jun-
24 1
4
2010
-Jun-
24 1
5
2010
-Jun-
24 1
6
2010
-Jun-
24 1
8
2010
-Jun-
24 1
9
2010
-Jun-
24 2
0
2010
-Jun-
24 2
1
2010
-Jun-
24 2
2
2010
-Jun-
24 2
3
2010
-Jun-
25 0
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Ad Hoc: Labor Leadership #spill
23 June, 19:00-00:00:Speculation
24 June, 08:00-15:00:Party Vote & Aftermath
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Forming an Ad Hoc Issue Public
o #spill as a hashtag takeover:
Ok what's with the #spill tag? Has BP dumped more oil?
those who do not know a #spill in leadership terms is basically saying the big job is now vacant no relation to the oil spill of bp style
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Ad Hoc: #eqnz22/2 23 24 25 26 27 28 1/3 2
3 4 5 6 7
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
An Ad Hoc Public: #eqnz @repliesmainstream
media
authorities
utilities
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Managing the Hashtag
o Ensuring ‘proper’ use:
@NZcivildefence please use #eqnz hashtag. Thanks.
Earthquake in New Zealand = #eqnz. Earthquake in Japan = #eqjp. Earthquake in the U.S. = #earthquake. Hmmmmmm.
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Ad Hoc? #royalwedding
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Ad Hoc? Crises and Other Events(top 1% most active users in each
hashtag;size = percentage of total tweet volume)
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
Beyond Hashtags
o Publics on Twitter:o Micro: @reply and retweet conversationso Meso: hashtag ‘communities’o Macro: follower/followee networks
Multiple overlapping publics / networks
o What drives their formation and dissipation?o How do they interact and interweave?o How are they interleaved with the wider
media ecology?o Twitter doesn’t contain publics: publics transcend
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
The Australian Twittersphere
Follower/followee network:~150,000 Australian Twitter users(of ~550,000 known accounts so far) colour = outdegree, size = indegree
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
The Australian Twittersphere
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
@snurb_dot_info@jeanburgess