Social Analytics (COMP90076)

Social networks and social platforms are a widely used technology for connecting individuals and connecting organisations. They can provide key insights into human and organizational behaviours and needs. This subject will introduce students to methods for analyzing data generated by social networks and social platforms.

The following topics will be covered: network structure and semantics, including friend‐follower relationships; social network analysis fundamentals including connectedness, centrality and influence; community detection; social network visualisation methods; combining text and social network analysis; user modelling, including prediction and recommendation strategies; gaining insights into groups of users via clustering/segmentation; trend monitoring in social networks; prediction and anomaly detection in networks; automated social interaction: conversational chatbots and their inferential capabilities and interfaces; case studies in public health surveillance, education and psychology.