Common Core in the Twitterverse: Exploring Social Structure and Social Media Influencers

• In Event: 26.047 - Mobilizing Support and Opposition in Education: Influence in the 21st Century

Abstract

Discussion and opinion related to the Common Core abound and much of that opinion is broadcast on social media, such as Twitter. In this study we use Network Analysis as a way to analyze the communication patterns about the Common Core on Twitter. Drawing on six months of Twitter data related to the Common Core we created a social network comprised of over 66,000 actors representing close to 190,000 interactions in order to understand the overall network structure and to identify Social Media Influencers. The results reveal a highly active network regarding CCSS with distinct structural communities and an “elite” set of non-education related actors that dominate the exchanges.

Authors

• Alan J. Daly, University of California - San Diego

• Jonathan A. Supovitz, University of Pennsylvania

• Miguel Del Fresno, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

• Yi-Hwa Liou, National Taipei University of Education