Talking of Many Things: Using Topical Networks to Study Discussions in Social Media

Abstract

This article outlines a method for studying online activity using both qualitative and quantitative methods: topical network analysis. A topical network refers to “the collection of sites commenting on a particular event or issue, and the links between them” (Highfield, Kirchhoff, & Nicolai, 2011, p. 341). The approach is a complement for the analysis of large data sets enabling the examination and comparison of different discussions as a means of improving our understanding of the uses of social media and other forms of online communication. Developed for an analysis of political blogging, the method also has wider applications for other social media websites such as Twitter.

KEYWORDS:

• blogs
• hyperlinks
• issue publics
• public debate
• social media
• topical networks

Acknowledgments

The initial research informing this article comes from my doctoral research; I thank Axel Bruns and Jason Sternberg for their supervision of this project, and Lars Kirchhoff and Thomas Nicolai for collecting the blog data discussed here. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions for this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tim Highfield

Tim Highfield is a Research Fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI), Queensland University of Technology, and a sessional academic with Curtin University. He was awarded his PhD from Queensland University of Technology in 2011. His doctoral research investigated political blogging in Australia and France. Currently his research focuses on social media use around politics, sport, and popular culture.