Sara - A Semi-Automatic Framework for Social Network Analysis

Abstract

Understanding the dissemination of information in social networks has become essential for modern societies. These networks have dramatically changed the mode of communication, relationship, marketing, and access to information. Platforms such as Twitter, and WhatsApp are some representatives of these new information propagation media that represented a major shift in a model centered on traditional communication vehicles. This new decentralized environment gave voice to marginalized groups, riots such as the Arab Spring, growth of populist parties and false news waves across the globe. Therefore, considering the influence of these platforms in several aspects of society, this work presents a framework for characterizing the diffusion of information in social networks, especially on Twitter. This characterization is accomplished through the use of complex network and text mining techniques, exploring the generation of a retweets network, the formation of communities around specific users, cascades of information, analysis of feelings and modeling of topics. As an evaluation this model is applied in characterizing a network of retweets generated around the discussion of pension reform of Brazil on Twitter.