A Networked Take on Influence

Symposium & Workshop on Measuring Influence on Social Media | #Influence12 Social Media Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax

Gilad Lotan | @gilgul

Illustra(on:  Ma.  Taylor  

Sculpting Audiences

Alex  Dragulescu  

Sculpting Audiences

Alex  Dragulescu  

purchasing patterns of peers television viewing behavior

Influence: The ability to disproportionately affect the spread of information

Within Context => Wanted Action

“Influence” as an Exposed Metric is Problematic

•  Simple quantifiable measure •  Innate nature •  People aren’t always rational – may trust

someone despite past transgressions •  Exogenous – may come from outside the

observed network •  Based on Context

Flickr:  mangpages  

Receptivity of your Audience

f(Topic, Network, Timing, Authority, Trust, Historical Behavior, Network Density, Activity…)

Given tweet(s) => if/when to post

Diurnal Patterns

Daily Routines

Geographic Distribution

USA  

Indonesia  Germany  

Data Reflects Us

49ers:  36,    Saints:  32  

Identifying Spikes

Game  starts  

Game  ends!  

49ers  

Typical Sports Event

Social  Movement  

TV  Show  

Awards    Ceremony  

Breaking News (zipfian distribution)

Audience & Regional Trends

Meme  

#UglyNames  

#truthbomb  

#IWishIHad  

#ThoughtsWheniLookInTheMirror  

#10ThingsIFindA.rac(ve  

Entertainment  

#TheDarkKnightRises  

JonahHill  

Emma  Stone  Edward  Scissorhands  Foo  Fighters  

Lifestyle  

#WhenIGetDrunk  

#TodayImWearing  #TextMessagesFromAStalker  The  Boy  is  Mine  

#mydivorcesong  

Sports  

Eli  Manning  

#ElClassico  

#GoLakers  

ESPNU  

Giants  Won  

Poli(cs  

Obama  

StateOfTheUnion  

World  War  Web  

Arab  Spring  

Michele  Bachmann  

Holidays  or  Date  

Halloween  

Thanksgiving  

9/11  Pi  Day  Happy  Mothers  Day  

Place  or  Loca(on  

Chilean  

Spain  

Staples  Center  

Wembley  

Baghdad  

Trends by Categories

GeoSpan

Persistence  =  A.en(on  

Persistence

Vola(lity  =  sum  of  edit  distance  in  consecu(ve  slots  of  the  trending  topics  list    

Volatility (across cities)

Audience Attention: Real World Events How do audiences of different clients react to real world events?

Networked Audiences

@Pepsi  @AP  @AJEnglish  

Audience Activity

Whitney  Houston’s  Tragic  Death  Announced  

Pepsi  Promo(on  

#Kony2012

Shape of an Audience

Pi.sburgh  

Oklahoma  City  

Noblesville,  IN  

Engelwood,  Dayton,  OH  

Birmingham,  AL  

#IGoToASchool

Miami

Vancouver

New Jersey

Teen Micro-Celebs

Audience Authorities

•  Highly central users often have many followers

•  Some people are exceptions: not that many followers, but very central (e.g. Jezebel)

•  Most valuable users to engage with? Fewer demands on attention (less popular globally), but well-connected within network.

Information Flows

Bridging by Providing Context

•  Deviation from the Norm •  Audience Receptivity •  Network Attributes: shape, centrality, clustering

•  Bridges: generating trust

•  Context Setting

Instead of “Influencer”, think about:

Thank You

Gilad Lotan | @gilgul gilad@socialflow.com