SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING: a PRIMER Methods, Tools, and Applications for Monitoring the Social Media Space

978-9934-564-91-8 SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING: A PRIMER Methods, tools, and applications for monitoring the social media space Published by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence ____________________________________________________________________________ 1 ISBN: 978-9934-564-91-8 Author: Henrik Twetman, Marina Paramonova, Monika Hanley Contributors: Rolf Fredheim, Kristina van Sant, Giorgio Bertolini, Alvin Lim, Sebastian Bay Copy Editor: Anna Reynolds Design: Linda Curika Riga, December 2020 NATO STRATCOM COE 11b Kalnciema Iela Riga LV1048, Latvia www.stratcomcoe.org Facebook/stratcomcoe Twitter: @stratcomcoe This publication does not represent the opinions or policies of NATO or NATO StratCom COE. © All rights reserved by the NATO StratCom COE. Reports may not be copied, reproduced, distributed or publicly displayed without reference to the NATO StratCom COE. The views expressed here do not represent the views of NATO. 2 _____________________________________________________________________________ PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY ____________________________________________________________________________ 3 PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY Contents INTRODUCTION �� 6 TOOLS FOR MONITORING � � � � � 46 A primer on social media monitoring �� 7 SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING TOOLS �� 48 Supporting tools and services �� 61 SOCIAL MEDIA � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9 Bespoke solutions �� 63 TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA �� 14 What tools will not do for you �� 64 Social Networks �� 14 Media-sharing networks �� 15 Endnotes �� 65 Social messaging platforms �� 15 Blogging networks �� 16 Discussion boards �� 16 Review networks �� 17 USER VARIATIONS AND PATTERNS �� 19 Regional Variations �� 20 Demographic Variations �� 21 Current Trends �� 22 Disinformation on Social Media �� 22 SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING �� 25 HOW SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING WORKS �� 26 USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING �� 28 CHALLENGES TO MONITORING FOR DISINFORMATION �� 30 LIMITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING . 32 Asking the wrong questions �� 32 Social media blind spots �� 32 Attribution �� 33 Ethical and legal constraints �� 33 METHODS FOR MONITORING �� 35 THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE �� 36 Direction �� 37 Collection �� 41 Processing �� 41 Analysis �� 42 Dissemination �� 43 Feedback �� 43 Other considerations �� 43 ____________________________________________________________________________ 5 Developments in technology, communication and demographics all shape and alter the character of conflict. Information flow is now so prevalent, potent and unavoidable that it forms as much a part of the operations environment as the terrain or weather.” NATO AJP 3-10.111 INTRODUCTION For the last twenty years, the phenomenon media have, in many cases, become a of social media has cemented itself as conduit for unsubstantiated information, the new nexus of social interaction. With such as rumours, hoaxes, and conspiracy billions of users across the world, hundreds theories.2 Even more worrisome from of online platforms, and a myriad of digital a national security perspective, hostile technologies at its backbone, social media is actors are deliberately exploiting social fundamentally reshaping our understanding media to spread disinformation and to of the global information environment. Today, conduct information influence activities social media is essential infrastructure for with the intent of deceiving and misleading personal conversation, public debate, and audiences to achieve their strategic aims.3 commercial communication.1 Contemporary conflicts, especially those that fall within the hybrid spectrum,4 increasingly While social media provides many play out over social media,5 and actors such opportunities for unprecedented information as Russia, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia have sharing, the rapid adoption of limitless recently expanded their efforts to manipulate communication technologies with instant the social media space.6 amplification and global reach has also created significant vulnerabilities. Social 6 _____________________________________________________________________________ disinformation11 and information influence “Social media is understood as the activities also make detection and attribution different forms of online communica- difficult.12 It has quickly become clear that tion used by people to create networks, attaining perfect situational awareness of communities, and collectives to share the online information environment is a tall information, ideas, messages, and oth- order.13 er content.” Still, while much of today’s information Erragcha & Babay (2020) Social Media, Marketing Practices, and Consumer Behavior environment is essentially characterised by perpetual chaos, it is possible to study and understand it, albeit momentarily. Even Malicious use of social media poses a snapshots of a bigger picture are critical clear security challenge. The opportunities for operating successfully in this space. provided by new digital technologies are The importance of understanding what is exploited to undermine trust in democratic happening on social media has prompted institutions and legitimate news sources, the development of a wide range of tools to to distort public discourse and opinion monitor, measure, and analyse metrics and formation, and to influence elections and content. Oftentimes these tools are developed short-circuit decision-making processes.7 with either a commercial objective— monitoring brand engagement or customer For this reason, it is important for a wide discourse—or with a scholarly mindset— array of stakeholders to understand what to understand wider patterns and trends. is happening on social media. Effectively However, these tools can also be leveraged listening to conversations online and to gain insights regarding disinformation and monitoring and analysing social media other security concerns. content is crucial for both public and private sector actors,8 as well as for military A primer on social media organisations.9 monitoring This, however, is easier said than done. The This primer sets out to achieve three complex social and technical infrastructure objectives. First, it seeks to provide an of the online environment makes both seeing overarching perspective on social media the big picture and identifying specific monitoring and the complexities of studying pieces of information challenging. The the online information environment. Second, speed at which information flows between it provides insights into how monitoring can social media users, and the ever-changing be structured and conducted to achieve types of data generated further complicate desired results. the picture.10 The deceptive nature of ____________________________________________________________________________ 7 “NATO views disinformation as the About this report deliberate creation and dissemination This report provides an overview of so- of false and/or manipulated information cial media monitoring and the complex- with the intent to deceive and/or mis- ities of studying the online information lead. Disinformation seeks to deepen environment. It also reviews a variety of divisions within and between Allied na- tools and services for social media mon- tions, and to undermine people’s itoring, particularly focusing on disinfor- confidence in elected governments.” mation and information influence. NATO (2020) NATO’s approach to countering disinformation: A focus on COVID-19 Research method This primer builds on consultations with Information influence activities subject-matter experts who routinely “Information influence activities are work with social media monitoring. We activities conducted by foreign powers asked developers, intelligence oper- to influence the perceptions, behaviour, atives, open-source practitioners, PR and decisions of target groups to the experts, journalists, and others, which benefit of foreign powers.” methods and tools they preferred. We Pamment et al. (2018) Countering Information Influ- then cross-referenced the information ence Activities: The Start of the Art, MSB they provided with our own research and in-house testing. The products and services mentioned in this primer Finally, it provides an overview and review of should not be viewed as an endorse- some popular tools for social media monitoring ment or recommendation of the prod- from a disinformation perspective, including ucts or services described. tools for data collection, network analysis, and data visualisation. The primer

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