Social Media - Developing Understanding, Infrastructure & Engagement (Social Media Enhancement)

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There is now a broad consensus that new forms of social data emerging from people's day-to-day activities on the Web (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) have the potential to transform the social sciences. However, there is also agreement that the current analytical techniques fall short of the standards required for academic research and policy making. Areas in which social media data have the potential to provide insights include: social order and civil society, politics and policy making, sentiment, commerce, health, information and sentiment diffusion, creativity and the arts. In this proposal we outline the case for an enhancement to our existing funding for the RCUK dot.rural Digital Economy Hub (based at the University of Aberdeen) to support investigations into the challenges surrounding social media data and the social sciences. Aspects of the work will involve analysis of social media data in a number of contexts, including: transport disruption around the 2014 Commonwealth Games (Glasgow), news stories about Scottish independence and UK-EU relations, island communities in the Western Isles. Guided by insights from these case studies we will: - develop a suite of software tools to support various aspects of data analysis and curation; - provide guidance on ethical considerations surrounding analysis of social media data; and- deliver training workshops for social science researchers.Finally, researchers will attend a range of festivals (food, music and science) to engage the public on this important issue.