Who Did the Top Media From Spain Started Following on Twitter? An Exploratory Data Analysis Case Study

Abstract

The digital sphere and social media platforms have prompted new logics regarding information access and influence flows among media, politicians, and citizens. In this exploratory study, via a machine learning software and with data visualization methods, we analyzed social media data in order to find patterns that can contribute to comprehend the new dynamics of influence between the media, politicians, and citizenship in the context of social media and digital communication, specifically on Twitter. We analyzed who the top 50 Spanish generalist media with most followers started following in 2017, 2018, and 2019 on Twitter, the quintessential informational network. To do so, we melded data visualization computational and manual methods. We used an artificial intelligence big data analysis software to visualize the network of media from Spain in order to identify the sample. Afterward, we extracted the top followed accounts by the sample and categorized them in types of accounts, institution/citizenship, country, number of followers, and gender, to proceed with the data visualization to identify trends and patterns. The results show that these media accounts started following mainly accounts that belonged to male politicians from Spain. We could also spot among the years of the study an inversely proportional trend from the media that went from following mainly institutions to following a majority of citizens, and to start following more accounts with a smaller number of followers every year. The tendency to follow accounts from Spain that belong to men grew or remained a majority among the years of the study.

Influencers in the Political Conversation on Twitter: Identifying Digital Authority with Big Data

“…Due to the communicative characteristics of digital platforms, even normal citizens can be configured as influencers. The extent of action of these users can encompass various areas such as education [12] or journalism [13,14], and various digital platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram among others [15,16]. The digital environment can empower people with limited influence in the offline world [17].…”

The Role of Twitter Medium in Business with Regression Analysis and Statistical Modelling

“…When trying to find a product recommendation, 56% of consumers asked their friends for instructions, and 49% of respondents said that they bought something after consulting their friends; see [ 9 ]. On Twitter, recommendations from influencers resulted in a 20% increase in the sale of products [ 10 ]. It is ranked fourth in the marketing arena; see Figure 1 .…”