Social Media Data and Tools

Tools that collect social media data:

• NCapture plug-in for NVivo
  • NCapture is a free web-browser extension for Chrome that enables researchers to gather web content--including data from YouTube, LinkedIn, websites, and online PDFs--to import into NVivo. 
  • When capturing data from Facebook for the first time, researchers need to authorize NCapture. 
  • Email datahelp@gmu.edu for help with NVivo.
  • *Due to the changes made to Twitter's API, NCapture can no longer function as designed with Twitter data.*

Advanced collection methods:

• Facebook Graph API
  • The Graph API is the primary way to get data into and out of the Facebook platform. It is an HTTP-based API that apps can use to programmatically query data, post new stories, manage ads, upload photos, and perform a wide variety of other tasks.
  • Researchers need to register as a Facebook Developer and create a Facebook App.
• Instagram Basic Display API
  • The Instagram Basic Display API allows users of your app to get basic profile information, photos, and videos in their Instagram accounts. The API can be used to access any type of Instagram account but only provides read-access to basic data.
  • View their documentation on getting started.

Other resources:

• Data Knowledge Hub for Monitoring Online Discourse
  • The Data Knowledge Hub for Monitoring Online Discourse (Data Knowledge Hub) is an initiative that aims to provide a central resource for researchers, social scientists, data scientists, journalists, practitioners, and policy makers interested in monitoring social media and online discourse more broadly.
• Social Media Research Toolkit
  • The Social Media Research Toolkit is a list of 50+ social media research tools curated by researchers at the Social Media Lab at Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University. The kit features tools that have been used in peer-reviewed academic studies. Many tools are free to use and require little or no programming.