Description
Once we identified the main players in the debate on freedom of expression and hate speech, we wanted to understand how they relate to each other. The actors' official Facebook pages are a mean to find these connections: by collecting the data about the pages each actor "liked" we reconstructed the networks between them. This type of analysis allowed us not only to discover which pages the various actors appreciate, but also if they appreciate each other. The graph shows the connections between the actors by dividing them into mutual, income and outcome: in this way it is possible to better define the relations and orientations of the actors.
The results highlight different networks with different amounts of pages involved and internal connections. The largest and most interconnected cluster is the one of universities, where the key players are UC Berkley and University of California. The only connection between the university cluster and other clusters is the Howard University page, which links to the page of another actor: Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Apart from this unique connection, the SPLC's network has no external connections.
The actors' pages more connected are the ones of Donald J. Trump, Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter, who both put "like" to Donald J. Trump (Public Figure). Anyway, the network shows that the two actors have different pages in common including that of Sarah Palin and the Breitbart news site. Donald J. Trump's network is mainly focused on his family members and his own clubs and hotels. Instead, Milo Yiannopoulos' network is more heterogeneous: satirical or entertainment pages, pages of journalists and celebrities of various kinds are visible. Within its network there is also a page called "Berkeley Patriot" dedicated to the theme of free speech, which has no connection with the university cluster. The official page of President Trump (POTUS Government Official) appears to have a reduced network of like, including Milo Yiannopoulos. Barack Obama's network is mainly characterized by organizations linked to the Democratic Party. The only connection between Donald J Trump (Public Figure and POTUS Government Official) and Obama is the White House page.
Protocol
Locating the actors' Facebook pages and downloading with Netvizz the data related to the "likes" put by each page.
Processing the downloaded data with Gephi to get the network for each page and the connections between the actors' pages.