Abstract

Using the network analysis method, this study investigates the communication structure of Open Data on the Twitter sphere. It addresses the communication path by mapping influential activities and comparing the contents of tweets about Open Data. In the years 2015 and 2016, the NodeXL software was applied to collect tweets from the Twitter network, containing the term "opendata". The structural patterns of social media communication were analyzed through several network characteristics. The results indicate that the most common activities on the Twitter network are related to the subjects such as new applications and new technologies in Open Data. The study is the first to focus on the structural and informational pattern of Open Data based on social network analysis and content analysis. It will help researchers, activists, and policy-makers to come up with a major realization of the pattern of Open Data through Twitter.