Next week I will be presenting some recent joint work, with colleagues Hedy Lee, TylerMcCormick and Nina Cesare here at the UW Department of Sociology, at the 6th International Conference on Social Informatics (SocInfo) Workshop: Social Scientists Working with Start-ups.
Title: Taming “Data in the Wild”: The Promises and Pitfalls of Using Social Media Data for Demographic Research
Abstract: The digital traces left behind on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming increasingly valued sources of social data among scientists – including those interested in demographic and population research. While social media data offers many advantages, the collection and use of these data also presents a number of analytical challenges and offers new opportunities to expand upon existing social science research methods. Our objective is to provide a brief overview of literature regarding the benefits and challenges of using social media data for social science research, highlighting how these benefits and challenges apply specifically to social scientists interested in demography and population studies. We also provide directions for future research intended to make social media data more accessible to these researchers. We will conclude by discussing potential applications of social media data for demographic research, drawing upon our previous work using Twitter.