talking about fracking: a contested energy technology on twitter
TRANSCRIPT
Jill Hopke @jillhopke
COCE 2015
Discourse Over a Contested Technology on Twi=er: A Case Study of Hydraulic Fracturing
Media.ng Environmental Ac.vism on Twi<er
Twi=er as a broadcast-‐like medium
Hashtags and retweeFng enable conversaFons
Networked gatekeeper funcFons and affecFve news streams
Use for internal coordinaFon and to (potenFally) reach external audiences
Shi?ing Geopoli.cs of Energy
Source: U.S. EIA (2013). World Shale Gas and Oil Forma2ons.
Global Frackdown 2013 Events
Source: Global Frackdown. (2013). Events.
Compared to Shale Basins
• Computer-‐assisted content analysis of English language tweets (n=64,417) with DiscoverText machine learning func.on
• Random sample training set (n=650) • Variables: – Hashtag (#fracking, #globalfrackdown, #natgas, #shale, #shalegas)
– Opinion valence (pro-‐shale, neutral, anF-‐shale)
Methods
Frequency of Tweets in English by Hashtag
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000 13-‐Oct
14-‐Oct
15-‐Oct
16-‐Oct
17-‐Oct
18-‐Oct
19-‐Oct
20-‐Oct
21-‐Oct
22-‐Oct
23-‐Oct
24-‐Oct
25-‐Oct
26-‐Oct
27-‐Oct
# of Tweets
#Fracking
#Shale
#ShaleGas
#NatGas
#GlobalFrackdown
Sample of 64,417 Tweets
Sample Tweets
Certain Uncertain
Pro-‐Shale @ShaleMarkets: Increased Shale Development Is Good For Ohio Workers -‐ TY @EnergyInDepth for Ar.cle h<p://buff.ly/19Gc3Yz #Shale #Fracking @XXXX 8:25 AM -‐ 14 Oct 2013
RT @TheFrackingTrap: Will Europe pass on a shale gas revolu.on? h<p://t.co/JD79txVR8x #fracking #shale
Neutral @Osmich: NB judge rules #SWN injunc.on against an. #fracking protests will not be extended, ending today. 12:06 PM -‐ 21 Oct 2013
@BloombergNRG: South Africa may see legal ba<le over #fracking regula.ons h<p://bloom.bg/1bxLO5P by @pburkhardt 9:10 AM -‐ 16 Oct 2013
AnF-‐Shale @XXXX: Wow. A?er watching the two Gasland documentaries, I'm pre<y disappointed with our government #fracking #Gasland #sacj100 9:57 PM -‐ 21 Oct 2013
@SierraClubRMC: Where is the $ Going? Home Buyers Kept in Dark as Builders Retain Mineral Rights w/ Eye on #Fracking Revenue @AllGov h<p://bit.ly/H1JLwG 1:41 PM -‐ 15 Oct 2013
Propor.on of Opinion Valence by Hashtag
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
100
% of h
ashtag
Pro-‐Shale
Neutral
An.-‐Shale
Χ2 (df = 8, N = 64,417) = 18,632.95***, p = .000 (2-‐sided)
Cramer’s V = .380***, p = .000
#Fracking Top 200 Tweeters by Actor Type
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
# of Tweets
#Fracking Top 200 @Men.ons by Actor Type
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
# of Tweets
Hashtags as “Publics”
#Fracking
#GlobalFrackdown
#ShaleGas
#NatGas
#Shale Pro-‐Shale
AnF-‐Shale
