-- AlexGekker - 26 Jun 2013

Group members: Alex, Aron, Karin, Sam

RESEARCH QUESTION:

What shifts can be identified in the locational discourse surrounding Snowden's case?


Method one:

What topics were dominant in the Twitter discourse around Snowden between july 20 till july 26?

  • In TCat search Snowden within PRISM dataset
  • Create a .csv file that contains hashtag frequencies.
  • identify the top 5 hashtags per day
  • identify how these hashtags appear over the entire period
  • calculate what percentage these hashtags appear per day
  • visualize in excel


Method two:

What were the main themes in the SNOWDEN query in the PRISM dataset between july 9 till july 26?
  • Tag cloud - per day - synthesizing the main themes - get some #s, compare to general words.
  • If we found places - Do tag clouds of places on a per day basis
  • Find links between places and extratiodion discourses - corellation (statistical analysis) between places and themes.

What terms were associated with these locations in the Twitter discourse around Snowden on these dates?
  • We identified the top places in the themes and visualized them outside the SNOWDEN query using through co hashtag analysis


Challenges:

  • the discourse around PRISM is defined by DMI (keywords: nsa, palanteer, prism, spying, cyberwar, wiretap)
  • we search for SNOWDEN within this discourse to try and isolate discourse around snowden more specifically (keyword: snowden)
  • hashtags PRISM, SNOWDEN, and NSA dominate, making it hard to note minor topical shifts
  • problem in dataset because backup system at 4:00 am
  • no geographical locations mentioned in top hashtags
  • Co-hashtag analysis instead of co-word analysis


TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS PART 1:

  • What kind of locations are being discussed? [these locations digitally grounded]
The matrix shows an indicates a shift from a focus on Hong Kong (where he was). To America and China to an interlude of Britain and Iceland. Last couple of days Hong Kong, Ecuador, Moscow/Russia.

TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS PART 2:

  • Fugitive Geographies - Iceland (19-20 june): Assange, wikileaks, Asylum, Whistle-blower
  • Fugitive Geographies - Hong Kong (20-24 june): Speculations (moscow, russia, cuba, venezuela), wikileaks (surveillance & whistleblower moving away)
  • Fugitive Geographies - Moscow (25-26 june): hollidayinnfullofspies-hotel-motel, extradition-wikileaks-whistleblowers, political outfall (poetin, russia)

See our powerpoint presentation: Where_in_the_world_is_Edward_Snowden_-_Final.ppt
Topic revision: r7 - 28 Jun 2013, KarinEs
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