This project explores the influence of social media on perceptions and outcomes of three recent events -- two controversies surrounding the 2014 Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi, Russia and the March 2014 International Court of Justice ruling against Japanese “scientific” whaling as established by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986.

For more information on the Big Data initiative, media interest and our current collaborations please visit: http://www.oneonta.edu/bigdata

Funding has been made possible through 2 rounds of SUNY IITG technology grants awarded in 2012 and 2013.

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Social Media Hits on the Sochi Olympics via Trackur

These cases allow us both to examine “mainstream media” accounts juxtaposed with mined

social media (that may include “citizen journalist” accounts) that have occurred recently,

along with events that were initiated in the late 1980s, before the emergence of social media.

Therefore, this project should give some insight into the roles of social media in augmenting

social movements and into public debate over recent events in an environment saturated with

social media. While social scientists have recognized and established the agenda-setting

power of mass media for decades (McCombs, 2004), the possible significance of social

media in both understanding the perceptions and outcomes of events are much more

nebulous and arguably inadequately researched as of this writing. Bob (2005) notes that the

(in)capacity of an international group/social movement organization/religious body to

communicate its message via mass media and within popular culture can exert a significant

influence on the degree to which the perceived problem(s) in question becomes the topic of

public attention and possible (Western) governmental action. Further, scholars of social

movements have highlighted the strategic dimensions of interpreting , defining, and

redefining events in order to advance particular causes (Klandermans 1997). A central task of

social movement leaders is to mobilize support by linking specific grievances with larger

social currents and broader frames of meaning (Snow and Bedford 1992; Tarrow 1998). The

advent of social media makes both questions of agenda-setting and the expression of moral

claims (Lowe, 2006; 2010; Best, 2013) more complex to examine. Pentland (2014) argues

that social media is forcing social science to develop new methodologies; Bolt (2012) argues

that the relationship between agenda-setting and smaller claimsmakers has become more

dynamic as social media and other forms of electronic communication allow small groups

(such as activists and insurgents) to potentially reach larger audiences in ways previously

restricted by “gate-keeping” media. Naim (2013) argues that, on a societal level, social and

political power has become more difficult to retain. In keeping with middle-range theory

(Merton, 1968), this project hopes to contribute to partially understanding these dynamics

through examining the above controversies.

Can Mined Social Media Provide Insights Into Changing or Prevailing Public Perceptions of Current and Ongoing Controversies?

Sochi Olympics: LGBT and Stray Dogs

The Sochi 2014 Olympics were characterized by two controversies: recent legal and

political transformations in Russia that criminalized Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered

(LGBT) persons in Russia (and also placed LGBT Olympians in possible legal jeopardy)

and the publicized killing of stray dogs in Sochi, both to clear Sochi of these dogs and to

accommodate the expansion of the Olympic Village in which Olympians were housed.

International Court Ruling Against Scientific Whaling

The Controversies

Vidia Environment provided by U Buffalo Center for Computational Research Sample Data

The March 2014 International Court of Justice ruling against “scientific” whaling has

occurred after decades of petitions, protests and direction campaigns carried out by

organizations including Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Organization that

have contended that the annual Japanese whaling hunts in the Antarctic ocean, justified

under the clause in the 1986 International Whaling Convention that allowed for whaling for

scientific purposes, were in reality a deception perpetuated to permit illegal commercial

whaling.

Stray Dogs

LGBT "Rights Talk"

Lodging Conditions Chobani Yogurt

Terms Documents

Percent Terms Documents

Percent Terms Documents

Percent Terms Documents

Percent Terms Documents

Percent

dog 783 2.41% anti-gai 211 0.65% activist 205 0.63% bathroom 285 0.88% chobani 512 1.58

strai 540 1.66% gai 661 2.04% arrest 206 0.64% hotel 662 2.04% yogurt 511 1.58

lgbt 257 0.79% ban 243 0.75% shower 119 0.37%

boycott 101 0.31% toilet 275 0.85%

law 246 0.76%

protest 346 1.07%

racist 107 0.33%

right 382 1.18%

sum 1323 4.08% sum 1129 3.48% sum 1836 5.66% sum 1341 4.13% sum 1023 3.15%

Timeline of whaling controversy in the Antarctic /Southern Whale Sanctuaries

1986: International Whaling Commission (IWC) creates a “scientific clause” which allows for whaling if done for

scientific purposes; Japanese whaling begins in 1988

2002-3: First campaign by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to interfere/inhibit Japanese whaling on the

grounds that whaling is for recognized scientific purposes, and therefore is illegal

2008: Animal Planet begins broadcasting Whale Wars, a program depicting the efforts of the Sea Shepherds to

interfere with/prematurely end Japanese whaling in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary

2014: International Court of Justice rules that Japan must cease whaling

Using “Big Data” The development of “Big Data” – including the explosive growth in the utilization of social media

and data collected around consumer behavior – has created opportunities for social scientific

research to gather and analyze information around a plethora of issues and controversies.

Members of the SUNY College at Oneonta “Big Data”Initiative have gathered data utilizing

Trackur (software that gathers “tweets” made through Twitter) and IBM Modeler data analytic

software. Team members have been collaborating with the Teaching Learning and Technology

Center at SUNY Oneonta along with the Center for Computational Research at SUNY Buffalo

to develop a method to “mine” the vast amounts of data available for analysis.