Social hyperlink analysis, webometrics, and digital networks
in South KoreaDr. Han Woo PARK
Visiting Research Fellow Oxford Internet Institute, UK
Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Media & CommunicationYeungNam University214-1 Dae-dong, Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 712-749Republic of [email protected]://www.hanpark.net
Brown Bag Seminar, Tue. 27 January 2009, Oxford Internet Institute
Virtual Knowledge Studio (VKS)
ContentsLink analysis and webometrics as social science research methodsA link analysis of a South Korean political webosphere
- Networking, mobilization- Normalization, equalization - Sunstein’s balkanization
Hyperlinks as a mirror of information flow and knowledge structure-I will not talk about this today
This is a combined finding from a series of studies
http://participatorysociety.org/wiki/index.php?title=Online_Research
Social webometrics Social webometrics (also cybermetrics) include not only hyperlink data but also communication content and usage patterns to measure social actions on the World Wide Web.
According to Björneborn and Ingwersen (2004), the definition of webometrics is "the study of the quantitative aspects of the construction and use of information resources, structures and technologies on the Web drawing on bibliometricand informetric approaches (I don’t agree with this direction)."
How social are hyperlinks?Social roles of hyperlinks in Internet-mediated political communication (Foot & Schneider, 2006, Web campaigning)
InformingInvolvingConnectingMobilizing
Mobilizing: Send a link to local friends who can voteMobilizing: Send a link to local friends who can vote
Mobilizing: Send a link telling that this is a good homepageMobilizing: Send a link telling that this is a good homepage
Hyperlink Theories
Hyperlinks might not provide for information flow, but they do provide for traffic flow.Hyperlinks tend to reveal both existing and emerging socio-communicational network, but are these strong or weak ties?Hyperlinks also can be strategic actions to fulfill various goals
Enhance one’s credibilityDraw traffic
Further discussion issues
hyperlinks have come to serve as a new type of social marker in (Korean) politics
mark group identity, raise one’s prestige, demonstrate affinity.
To what extent do hyperlinks reflect intentionality of purpose.How to determine the meaning which audiences attribute to hyperlinks.
Part 2A hyperlink network analysis
among a South Korean politician blogs
&Some webometrics results from
Korea-Japan comparison
Highest proportion of broadband users in the world
Unique evolution of online culture in Korean cyberspaceThe country’s impressive level of technological uptake
Vibrant online communication environmentNaver > Google, YahooNateOn > MSN messengerCyworld > MySpace, FacebookPandora, Africa > YouTube
Korea’s Cyworld was arguably the world’s first general purpose mass social networking site
South Korea – Internet background
E-relationships among politicians: comparing online and offline networks
Highly “informatized” political activityKorean political culture (and efficacy) is based upon personal and organizational ties
regionschoolpartygender
HierarchicalEmphasis on homogeneityPrevious studies show continuity between “official” political websites and traditional political practices
Reflect political affiliationsIndicate ideological orientations
Indicators
Hyperlink Network CentralityDensitySimilarity of link structures
Social Networkage, gender, hometown, electoral constituency, party affiliation, Assembly experience, and committee assignments
N = 38Density = 0.026Link Sum = 36
N = 63Density = 0.187Link Sum = 731
N = 5Density = 0.2Link Sum = 4
Network diagram in 2005
Findings
Conservative GNP (oppositional party) members maintained far more extensive use of blogs(52%) than ruling party (26%).Hyperlinks follow the expectations established by centuries of Korean political tradition.
Linkages still determined primarily by traditional bases of affiliation hyperlinks reify the political values and habits that are inherited from earlier generations of political expectations
N = 38Density = 0.026Link Sum = 36
N = 63Density = 0.187Link Sum = 731
N = 5Density = 0.2Link Sum = 4
Network diagram in 2005
N = 49Density = 0.018Link Sum = 42
N = 5Density = 0.2Link Sum = 4
N = 69Density =0.128Link Sum=599
Network diagram in 2006
In relation to the deepening divide, there is only one cross-connection between Uri and GNP in 2005In 2006, the number of connections from Uri to GNP had increased to 10 and the frequency of reverse linking (GNP -> Uri) had gone to 3 in 2006The number of cross-links has slightly increased over time
Block modeling over time
we set the 2005 density as a reference value using a null model and found that density difference (-0.0275) was statistically significant (p = .0008)Second, when we examine network structure in 2006 using only the nodes available in 2005 (99), we find that density still declines, from 0.0672 to 0.0607. The difference in density is 0.0065. A T-test showed that the difference was statistically significant (p < .05)
Why? - Blogs are no longer popular among lay-
persons? Moving to Web 2.0 applications?
Statistical tests about annual changes
To what degree do Korean National Assembly members update a blog?
Measurement item Answer Frequency Percent
Rarely 5 11.4Occasionally 6 13.6About half 16 36.4Frequently 5 11.4
Content-creating Activities
Very Frequently 12 27.3
Rarely 2 4.5Occasionally 4 9.1About half 13 29.5Frequently 7 15.9
Very Frequently 18 40.9
Hyperlinkingactivities
No answer 3 6.
South Korean and Japanese political cultures: Same? Different?Relationships South Korea Japan
Party-politician WeakLeader has strong influence on party
Weak/strong (major/ minor parties)Mediated leader role
Political parties-public
Ideologically oriented (recently)Two-party system
Ruling-oppositionEmerging two-party system
Politicians-public Increasingly transparentStrong civil society
Increasingly transparentWeak civil societyLocal support
Election regulations Strict (media, donations, and F2F)
Strict (media, timing, and distribution)
Results (1): Political information
* = sig. p<0.01
Information-provision feature present on site
South Korean politicians (N=100)
Japanesepoliticians (N=100)
Background information 100
86
87*
98*
75
16*
67*
82*
32*
89*
21
93*
32*
Portrait/image/photograph of politician
93
87
33*
40*
75
0*
15*
12*
0*
24*
27
69*
Party logo
Photo collection or album
General position on issues
Issue comparison with other politicians
Endorsements
Calendar/List of eventsPolicy documents issued within the past month
Newspaper clippings about the politicianInformation about publications such as books
Activity reports
Privacy or terms of use policies 13*
Results (2): Communications
* = sig. p<0.01
Communications-oriented features South Korean politicians (N=100)
Japanese politicians (N=100)
Join politician’s organization 20* 34*Join politician’s political party 5 8Donate 93* 11*Get e-mail from the site 75* 23*Participate in an online forum/communications space
99* 17*
Distribute political materials offline 59* 2*Send links 9 0Obtain e-paraphernalia 7 0Volunteer or internship opportunities 14 20
Results (3a): Linking
* = sig. p<0.01
Linking strategies South Korean politicians (N=100)
Japanese politicians (N=100)
Own political party 89* 70*
Other political parties 4 4
Other politicians in the same party (national level)
3* 18*
Other politicians in the same party (local level)
0* 12*
Other politicians in a different party (national level)
0 0
Other politicians in a different party (national level)
0 0
Central government 52 38
Local governments 60 44
Local assemblies 8 3
Election-related government bodies 11 3
National assemblies 67* 37*
Parliamentary committees 11 4
Results (3b): Linking
* = sig. p<0.01
Linking strategies South Korean politicians (N=100)
Japanese politicians (N=100)
Broadcasters 3 6
Internet broadcasters 0* 27*
Newspapers 9 7
Internet newspapers 9 1
Civic & advocacy groups
37 23
Wireless sites 2* 15*
Blogs 57* 20*
International bodies 4 7
General public 3* 20*
Other 43 28
Findings from Korea-Japan studySouth Korean politician websites show more involvement between politicians and the public with regard to information and communications featuresJapanese politicians have more inter-linkage with other politicians and channel online interest to formalized offline support organizationsFuture of permanent e-campaign?
Networking, Blogging and citizenshipFree, easy online networking (e.g. blogging) allows Internet-connected citizens to become journalists
Breaks the monopoly of the capital-intensive media? OhMyNews!!Allows the creation of Habermas’s free discussion Public Sphere?
A liberal underdog Roh Moo-Hyun won the 2002 presidential election by a small margin of 2.3%, largely due to the Internet
38
Changing trends of ideological landscape
Despite the fact that he was the nominee of the ruling Party, he is an unconventional politician in terms of a poor family background and he did not get much support from mainstream media and old elite class in the Korean societyThe Internet has been credited with winning the 2002 elections for the Uri party and the progressive camp but seems to have waned in strengthWe intend to explore the changing trends of ideological landscape on cyberspace
Sunstein’s Republic.com 2.0Argues (from a U.S. perspective) that
the Internet supports diversity, butindividuals choose to cocoon themselves in areas of agreement, sothe net result is protection from exposure from differing opinions =the death of democracy
Does this occur in broadband and social network-leading South Korea?
Bi-linked network of politically active A-list citizen blogs (July 2005)
URI=CentreDLP=LeftGNP=Right
Just A-list blogs exchanging links with politicians
Findings from A-list citizen blogsClear ideological trends are visible, with the central blog “asraee” connecting mainly to other progressive blogs in 2004In 2005, progressive Uri party has the biggest A-list blog supportHowever, A-list blogs of different “affiliations” frequently interconnectParty clusterings of blogs exist but are not strong
Little evidence of Sunstein’s republic.com 2.0
Reactions from government and conservative mass media
Portals Should Bear Responsibility for Cyber Violence as well as Offline Rallies?Internet portal Daum had led the candlelight vigils in cyberspace since the mad cow fears began spreading by posting on its main news corner articles about the dangers of U.S. beef and writings by bloggers and setting this issue as the main theme on its Agora web board for days on end.
Selection of research site
The frequently-read entries(FRE) written by Daum Agora blog-reporters during May and June of 2008
- collected with search queries: mad cow disease, US beef, candle light protest
- entries more than 10,000 views
External entries trackbacked to FRE
FRE analysis shows that polarization about US beef import become weaker with a significant increase in neutral position (10 -> 55, p=0.000)
N=152N=152JuneJune
N=111N=111MayMay
Neutral
Neutral
36.18%
Structural change over time:Disappearing long-tail participation
An over-time result shows that the agenda-setting function of head bloggers (A-list), whose entries were included more than two times in the FRE, become stronger than that of tail bloggersin terms of writings, views, replies, and trackbacks
May
(115 entries by 75 bloggers)
June
(152 entries by 83 bloggers)Items
>= 2
entries1 entries 1-2
>= 2
entries1 entries 1 – 2
No. of
bloggers
16
(21.3%)59 (78.6%) 57.3%
21
(25.3%)62 (74.7%) 49.4%
No. of
entries56(48.7%) 59(51.3%) 2.6%
90
(59.2%)62 (40.8%) -18.4%
Views 1,960,069 2,686,944 726,875 5,141,674 2,336,210 -2,805,464
Replies 6,612 10,345 3,733 14,254 10,404 -3,850
Trackbacks 347 476 129 443 341 -102
The 2007 presidential race within the opposition Grand National Party
Political identity of the GNP. Homonym of “One Nation Party”.Strong affiliation with traditional conservatives in Korea.Ideological legacies from military regimes continue.
The 2007 presidential race within the opposition Grand National Party
A mixed composition ranging from extreme anti-communists to the centre-right.Roughly corresponding to the Republican party in the US.Defeated in the 1997 and 2002 presidential elections.
The 2007 presidential race within the opposition Grand National Party
Profiles of the GNP candidatesTwo major candidates: Myung-Bak Lee and Geun-HyePark
MB Lee is ex-mayor of Seoul and ex-CEO of HyundaiGH Park is a daughter of ex-president Jeong-Hee Park
Two minor candidates: Hee-Ryong Won and Jun-PyoHongThe two major candidates and Won were selected for this research as Won is known to be very active on cyberspace.
Affiliation network diagram using pages linked to Lee’s and Park’s sites
N = 901 (Lee: 215, Park: 692, Shared: 6)
Affiliation network diagram using sites linked to Lee’s and Park’s sites
N = 109 (Lee: 58, Park: 63, Shared: 12)
Findings & Discussions
Candidate Lee focused on the informing function of the campaign website. The site was incorporated into his traditional top-down campaign.
The outstanding number of the webpages (i.e. content offered from the candidate’s side). The number in decrease towards the end of the campaign: an electronic version of the campaign pamphlet?Relatively fewer incoming links.
Findings & Discussions
Candidate Park focused on the networking (i.e. connecting & mobilizing) function of the campaign website.
Lesser materials (than Lee’s), infrequent increase.The considerable number of incoming links.Many of the inlinking sites having content of explicit support for the candidate.The candidate known to be active through more personalized cyber channels: Cyworld mini-hompy, Parksamo, etc.
Findings & Discussions
An emerging literature suggests that networking does not necessarily result in earning more votes (Hesse, 2007).However, there is insufficient evidence to determine the correlation between the result of this particular election and each candidate’s focused Web practice.
Possible comparison between Nosamo in 2002 and Parksamo in 2007.
Findings & Discussions
Cyber-balkanization was observed.Only a few webpages/sites are shared between the two campaign sites. The campaign sites tend to attract links from like-minded sites.
Questions remain about whether, how and to what extent online engagement can build political consensus in a deeply divided political context.
Changes of co-link networks during 2007 presidential campaign period
Web-mentions of candidate & party names, website sizes, visitor traffics, inlink counts, and co-links were collected in seven times3-day interval, 29 Nov - 17 Dec in 2008Particular usefulness of webometrics survey during Korean presidential campaign period
- Public survey can be reported only 3-day before the election
- In 2003 presidential election, it used to be 22-day before
Summary of findingsOnline attention focused on major parties/candidates cf. Moon GH, Huh KYFrequency counts, Web traffic: the (conservative) GNP > the liberals Incoming links, size of the site: the liberals & labor candidates > the GNPCo-link maps
= indicative of the relative level of public awareness and the ideological orientation of candidates
= a third-person perspective
DiscussionsDiscussionsShould web data collection be always conducted Should web data collection be always conducted using (commercial) using (commercial) search enginessearch engines??
How do we know the extent to which a search How do we know the extent to which a search engine engine influences/distorts influences/distorts research results? research results? Is search engine Is search engine valuevalue--freefree research tool?research tool?
The end
Thank you for listening, and thank you to myassistants (Ae-Jin Bae) and collaborators (Mike Thelwall, Randy Kluver, Nick Jankowski, Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki, Yeon-ok Lee, Woo-young Chang)
Han-Woo Park, Ph.D.Email: [email protected]: www.hanpark.net
Partially supported by a Korea Research Foundation Grant
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