Who tweets? Deriving the demographic characteristics of age, occupation and social class from twitter user meta-data

PloS One
Luke SloanMatthew Williams

Abstract

This paper specifies, designs and critically evaluates two tools for the automated identification of demographic data (age, occupation and social class) from the profile descriptions of Twitter users in the United Kingdom (UK). Meta-data data routinely collected through the Collaborative Social Media Observatory (COSMOS: http://www.cosmosproject.net/) relating to UK Twitter users is matched with the occupational lookup tables between job and social class provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using SOC2010. Using expert human validation, the validity and reliability of the automated matching process is critically assessed and a prospective class distribution of UK Twitter users is offered with 2011 Census baseline comparisons. The pattern matching rules for identifying age are explained and enacted following a discussion on how to minimise false positives. The age distribution of Twitter users, as identified using the tool, is presented alongside the age distribution of the UK population from the 2011 Census. The automated occupation detection tool reliably identifies certain occupational groups, such as professionals, for which job titles cannot be confused with hobbies or are used in common parlance within alter...Continue Reading

References

Nov 21, 2008·Nature·Jeremy GinsbergLarry Brilliant
Sep 30, 2010·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Sharad GoelDuncan J Watts
Aug 31, 2013·PloS One·Márton MestyánJános Kertész
Feb 28, 2014·The Behavioral and Brain Sciences·Helen Susannah MoatNick Chater
Jun 4, 2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Adam D I KramerJeffrey T Hancock
Aug 15, 2014·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·Mauricio SantillanaJohn S Brownstein

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 15, 2016·Computer Communications·Gualtiero B ColomboJonathan Scourfield
Jul 12, 2018·Expert Opinion on Drug Safety·Jérémy LardonCédric Bousquet
Aug 30, 2017·PloS One·Antonio A Morgan-LopezPaul Ruddle
Dec 22, 2017·Proceedings of the ACM on Human-computer Interaction·Tom HuangRumi Chunara
Nov 30, 2018·Health Informatics Journal·Riyi QiuLixia Yao
Apr 5, 2019·Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine·Philip Harber, Gondy Leroy
Sep 5, 2018·Journal of Public Health Management and Practice : JPHMP·Heather M BrandtDelia West
Sep 24, 2015·PloS One·Daniel Preoţiuc-PietroNikolaos Aletras
Jun 26, 2020·JAMA Network Open·Su GolderGraciela Gonzalez-Hernandez
Sep 15, 2020·Issues in Mental Health Nursing·Meiko MakitaMike Thelwall
Jan 13, 2017·International Journal of Biometeorology·Jihoon Jung, Christopher K Uejio
Jul 28, 2019·Journal of Public Health Management and Practice : JPHMP·Heather M BrandtDelia West
Apr 11, 2020·PloS One·Amir Hossein YazdavarPascal Hitzler
Jun 22, 2017·PloS One·Marco Schmitt, Robert Jäschke
Jul 16, 2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Diya LiZhe Zhang
Oct 24, 2018·The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine·Kar-Hai ChuTess Boley Cruz
Apr 23, 2021·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Stephen Wai Hang KwokGuanjin Wang
May 27, 2021·PloS One·Michael V ArnoldPeter Sheridan Dodds
Jun 2, 2021·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Zhiyuan HouLeesa Lin
Jul 1, 2021·APSIPA Transactions on Signal and Information Processing·Yuqi GaoJiebo Luo

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

Amazon Mechanical Turk
COSMOS
NS
Polysemy
NatCen
CrowdFlower
SEC
Collaborative Online Social Media ObServatory ( COSMOS )

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.