Urban Twitter Networks and Communities: A Case Study of Microblogging in Athens

TL;DR

This study analyzes Twitter networks in Athens using hashtag data to reveal community structures and microblogging practices, demonstrating that online communities reflect real-life social groups.

Contribution

It provides a network-based analysis of Athens Twitter users, offering new insights into local microblogging communities and their social dynamics.

Findings

Twitter community shows signs of real-life social cohesion

Network visualization reveals community structure and interactions

Microblogging practices reflect geographic and social ties

Abstract

This paper examines the community formed by the Twitter users that used a city-level hashtag. In particular, we provide a network perspective of the city of Athens, Greece, as demonstrated by the analysis and visualization of the relevant Twitter hashtag data, in order to present both an overview and deeper insights at the microblogging practices of this geographic local network. Further analysis suggests that the Twitter community defined by the members of the network shows strong signs of a real-life community.