Enabling citizen mapping of government networks with

NodeXLDerek Hansen

and Marc Smith

Patterns are left behind

Research GoalDevelop powerful tools, processes, and methods that dramatically lower the barriers for community managers and researchers to make sense of social media interactions.

Apply them to the government domain and national priorities.

Online Community Analysis

Social Network AnalysisA systematic method for understanding relationships between entities.

Vertex-Specific Metrics• Betweenness Centrality• Degree Centrality• Eigenvector Centrality• Closeness Centrality

Network-Specific Metrics• Components• Density

Introduction to NodeXL

NodeXL: Network Overview, Discovery and Exploration for Excel

Leverage spreadsheet for storage of edge and vertex data

http://www.codeplex.com/nodexl

Import from multiple social media network

sources

Key network locations and structures:Hub v. SpokeCore v. BridgeClusters Hub

Bridge

Cluster

Cluster

Spoke

Isolate

Making Government Decisions More Transparent

Monitoring the Masses

Teaparty

“goldman”

“global warming”

“climate change”

“smithsonian”

NSF

NodeXL map of clusters of YouTube videos discussing healthcare reform linked by shared comments. With two exceptions (the yellow cluster reflecting opponents to the Administration health care plan, and the red cluster reflecting videos supporting the plan), most clusters do not portray contextual ties between the videos.

Improving Organizational Communication

Supporting Community Analysts

ConclusionNodeXL allows non-programmers to analyze relational data from social media. There are many applications to government including:- Making Government Applications more

Transparent- Monitoring the Masses- Improving Organizational Communication- Supporting Community Analysts

Forthcoming, Sept 2010http://nodexl.codeplex.com

Enabling citizen mapping of government networks with

NodeXLDerek Hansen

and Marc Smith