Topical Strategic Multi-Layer Assessment (SMA) and U.S. Army Engineer Research Development Center (ERDC) Multi-Agency/Multi-Disciplinary White Papers in Support of National Security Challenges (2014)

The explosion of social media use over the past decade has yielded an unprecedented amount of data from which analysts can extract information and derive insights. To accomplish this, analysts need to use computer-based tools to filter, search, identify, interpret, and prioritize social media data. Social network analysis techniques provide a starting point for these capabilities but do not yet provide a complete solution. Analysis techniques, statistics, and metrics still need to be created that address the specific problems associated with social media. This paper uses a Twitter example to develop and test a suite of four metrics that identify information-based trust relationships for potential use in natural disasters, demonstrations, and violent crises.