In this section, we highlight three types of users. The “top tweeters”, the “most retweeted”, and the “most central”
Who are the Top Tweeters?
We define the top tweeters as the users who posted the most (>10 tweets) referencing ESSA during the week following its passage.
There were over
70
top tweeters.
On average, top tweeters tweeted approximately
23 times
during the week following passage of ESSA.
over 140 tweets
referencing ESSA during the week following its passage.
As a group, the top tweeters consisted of users from a variety of different backgrounds. Approximately one in four of the top tweeter profiles was identifiable as an advocacy organization or an individual advocate. Approximately 10% of top tweeters were identifiable as teachers while another 10% were identifiable as professional organizations. Interestingly, less than 7% of users were identifiable as media outlets or reporters.
All except eleven of the top tweeters are connected to each other within the top tweeters network. This indicates that information generated from one of the top tweeters may flow through the network, beyond any direct connections held by a top tweeter to influence ideas about ESSA.
Who are the Most Retweeted Users?
We define the most retweeted users as those whose tweets were retweeted more than 10 times.
37
users retweeted more than 10 times.
On average, the most retweeted users were retweeted nearly
70 times
during the week following passage of ESSA.
retweeted over 1,400 times
during the week following ESSA’s passage.
As with the top tweeters, the most retweeted users also represent a variety of different backgrounds. Users affiliated with the government made up nearly 10% of the of the most retweeted users. Professional organizations, such as teachers unions, were also prominent among the most retweeted users.
Unlike the top tweeters, the network for the most retweeted users is highly fragmented, with twenty of the thirty-seven users failing to have a single connection with another user in this network. The remaining users are distributed into two distinct groups.
Most Central Users:
When considering how information flows through a network, it is important to identify the users that have the greatest number of connections within the network. These well-connected or central users play an important role in controlling the tone and tenor around policy discourse as they are in a position to influence the greatest number of other users.
We explored the 58 most well connected users, those with the highest number of retweets or mentions in common with other users. The vast majority of these individuals appeared in the top tweeter or most retweeted user group as well.