Investigating Information Diffusion Potential of Social Media Networks for Effective Community Engagement

Abstract

Information diffusion potential of a social media user affects how quickly information about a mineral project can diffuse through that user. If management can use social media and network analysis, in community engagement program, to understand how fast and how far information will diffuse to communities and followers of particular social media users, it can selectively focus on the most influential users. This paper proposes a method to examine the information diffusion potential of social media accounts. The work uses Gephi, an open source software, to extract and analyze data from different Twitter handles to predict their information diffusion potential. The work uses case studies of real Twitter users (e.g. mining news organizations and bloggers) associated with mining to illustrate the approach. The case study results show that there are significant disparities in information diffusion potential that will demand selective attention. This research will help mines develop effective social media engagement strategies.

Meeting Name

2018 SME Annual Conference and Expo and 91st Annual Meeting of the SME-MN Section: Vision, Innovation and Identity: Step Change for a Sustainable Future (2018: Feb. 25-28, Minneapolis, MN)

Department(s)

Mining Engineering

Keywords and Phrases

Economic and social effects; Open source software; Open systems; Social networking (online); Community engagement; Information diffusion; Mineral projects; Most influential users; Selective attention; Social media; Social media networks; Social media users; Information management

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2018 Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Feb 2018

Link to Full Text

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