How do Key Network Actors Shape Discourse in Twitter Hashtag Streams? A Two-Year Comparative Analysis of an Agricultural Educators' Conference

Abstract

This research examines the network structure and discourse types of Twitter hashtag streams related to a global agricultural educators’ conference. Our focus was to examine patterns of network interaction and discourse types over two years to understand knowledge sharing and diffusion within the space. We conducted social network analyses and discourse coding of approximately 1390 tweets. Our findings showed that a set of common active, key participants emerged over both years and that knowledge sharing was heavily influenced by these key participants. Most original tweets were related to the conference and almost half of the tweets for each year were retweets. Participants fell into distinct participation categories based on intensity and frequency of tweeting. Network and discourse analyses together indicate that the hashtag streams functioned as affinity spaces around an interest in agricultural learning.