Introduction: Human Dynamics Research with Social Media and Geospatial Data Analytics

Abstract

Social media and geospatial big data have provided researchers new ways to study human dynamics, which is a transdisciplinary research field that focuses on the understanding of dynamic patterns, relationships, narratives, changes, and transitions of human activities, behaviors, communications, and interactions. This book, entitled Empowering Human Dynamics Research with Social Media and Geospatial Data Analytics, discusses theoretical backgrounds, techniques and methodologies, and applications of the current state-of-the-art human dynamics research utilizing social media and geospatial big data. It describes various forms of social media and big data with location information, theory development, data collection and management techniques, and analytical methodologies to conduct human dynamics research including geographic information systems (GIS), spatio-temporal data analytics, text mining and semantic analysis, machine learning, trajectory data analysis, and geovisualization. The book also covers applied interdisciplinary research examples ranging from disaster management and public health to urban geography and spatiotemporal information diffusion. This chapter introduces a contextual background of this book including research rationales and notable challenges and then provides an overview of the subsequent chapters.