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:
