Twitter is a global social network that unites millions of users around the world. Many people use Twitter for private purposes, to share their thoughts or memories. In addition, this network is a popular platform for various companies and organizations. The Dunkin Donuts restaurant account (@dunkindonuts) discussed in this essay also actively uses Twitter to promote its products and services. In the context of Twitter, each node represents a single user, and the edges between these nodes are retweets (Sadri et al., 2018). Thus, the Dunkin Donuts account currently has one million two hundred thousand followers, that is, nodes. However, on average, each account’s tweet is retweeted by just over two hundred users.
The graph below shows the number of posts on Twitter for the period from March 27, 2021 to March 30, 2021.
Using the graph in section 5 of Netlytics, it is possible to conclude who is the most frequent poster, what words are used most often, and the top-10 users who replied to. According to this chart, the list of ten posters includes PatrickTheGiver, OVERDRIVE, iamjenkinney, GeekHops, johnppuremich. These five most frequent twitter accounts make up approximately 60.5%. The remaining users make up 39.5%, including josephappple, toonskidd, NWHL, JustinM8704, and ROSIE_VOL6. By analyzing these users, it is possible to deduce a pattern of why they are so frequent in the chart. For example, PatrickTheGiver in the description of his account indicates that he works for the charity Healthcare Heroes. Its mission is to provide free meals to those in need. The other accounts are also somehow related to the food industry. It is this fact that unites all ten users with the Dunkin Donuts restaurant chain. The most commonly used words by these accounts include: dunkin, donuts, coffee, toast, avocado, cold, morning, drink, sweet, hot. These words are certainly related to the restaurant itself and the products and services it provides. The ten most replied to accounts are the same users, as they are the most active in the network. Moreover, the Twitter account of the National Hockey League (NHL) is very often mentioned in the restaurant’s webpage. This is due to the fact that this user is the most influential node.
As was mentioned above, the most influential node in the Dunkin Donuts twitter is the NHL account. Most of the publications on this page are dedicated to the National Hockey League. This account is the official page of the league, which publishes various information about matches, video and photo materials from games, and etcetera. This web page has 6.2 million subscribers, and the account itself follows 2063 users. Most of these users are hockey players, in addition to which there are accounts of various companies, including Dunkin Donuts. In its Twitter account, the restaurant has repeatedly published photos, news, and other materials related to this account. Moreover, Dunkin Donuts has dedicated tweets to various National Hockey League players many times. The NHL account can be considered influential, since they are the ones most often mentioned on the network. The fact that the NHL’s Twitter account is the most influential node should not be considered a surprise. The NHL has many sponsors, to whom the league creates advertising at its matches. Thus, Dunkin Donuts, as a sponsor of the National Hockey League, promotes information about matches and players on its page.
Reference
Sadri, A. M., Hasan, S., Ukkusuri, S. V., & Lopez, J. E. S. (2018). Analysis of social interaction network properties and growth on Twitter. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 8(1), 1-13.