Applying network analysis to the social media communication of the Youth Olympic Games and the Olympic Games

Abstract

This study examined the social media interactions between online stakeholders and the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and the Olympic Games (OG). The investigation observed what type of users exist as network members within the organisations' social networks (i.e., Twitter), analysed the network structures as they relate to the users engaged with the organisations, and mapped the network members and their online relationships to reveal how the network formations facilitate the social media interactions. Python was used to mine the data and create adjacency metrics and UCINET 6.627 and NetDraw were utilised for analytical procedures and visual representations of the networks. Key findings revealed that for the YOG there has been an evolution with regard to the structure and complexity of the network and that national sport organisations made up one of the key stakeholders for the YOG in comparison to other key stakeholders (e.g., media, Olympians, celebrities) for the OG.