Work

The Rise and Fall of Twitter Data in Urban Analytics

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Twitter has established itself as a valuable social media platform for urban research over the last 10 years, by providing free and accessible data. However, recent shift towards the monetization of its data, raises questions on its future use. To investigate this, bibliometric analysis and topic modeling techniques are used to explore trends in urban research publications and wider consequences of reduced data access. The results illustrate a period of ‘hype’ towards Twitter data, followed by decline in recent years. Application areas and topics are also identified, highlighting the distinct ways in which social media data contributes to urban research.

Source: Findings

DOI: 10.32866/001c.133245

Authors: Paddy Smith, Myles Gould, Ed Manley

Institution: University of Leeds

Language: English

Topic: Smart Cities and Technologies

Subfield: Media Technology

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $100