1. Home
  2. Studies
  3. Social Media: The Twitter Network of Top German Economists
Henry Goecke / Christopher Thiele / Nils Tschampel IW-Trends No. 2 3. August 2018 Social Media: The Twitter Network of Top German Economists

The importance of social media is increasing rapidly, and with it their relevance as a potential communication channel for economists. On the one hand, taking the example of the microblogging service Twitter, it is possible to analyse how top German economists use social media to inform society on political and economic issues, debates and opinions. On the other hand, the network of links between the economists themselves is also of interest, as it creates a space for scientific exchange and discourse.

Download PDF
The Twitter Network of Top German Economists
Henry Goecke / Christopher Thiele / Nils Tschampel IW-Trends No. 2 3. August 2018

Social Media: The Twitter Network of Top German Economists

IW-Trends

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

The importance of social media is increasing rapidly, and with it their relevance as a potential communication channel for economists. On the one hand, taking the example of the microblogging service Twitter, it is possible to analyse how top German economists use social media to inform society on political and economic issues, debates and opinions. On the other hand, the network of links between the economists themselves is also of interest, as it creates a space for scientific exchange and discourse.

The article evaluates the pattern of links in a Twitter network based on two criteria: the number of people who follow a given economist (followers) and the number of messages forwarded to other users (retweets). This analysis of the Twitter network of top German economists, measured by both followers and retweets, shows that most of them are relatively well connected. Overall, Twitter has opened up a potential space for academic communication among economists. It also shows that a very high pro - portion of the retweets of their contributions originate from people outside the economists’ network. Germany’s top economists obviously have an influence on the socioeconomic discourse.

Download PDF
The Twitter Network of Top German Economists
Henry Goecke / Christopher Thiele / Nils Tschampel IW-Trends No. 2 3. August 2018

Henry Goecke / Christopher Thiele / Nils Tschampel: Das Twitter-Netzwerk deutscher Top-Ökonomen

IW-Trends

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

More on the topic

Read the article
Neues virtuelles Geld Konzept, Gold Bitcoins (Btc) ist Digital Krypto-Währung Verwendung für Blockchain Technologie.
Markus Demary / Vera Demary IW-Policy Paper No. 7 2. September 2024

Crypto regulation in the EU

FC Bayern Munich footballers advertise for the crypto exchange Bitpanda, Crypto.com advertised with rapper Eminem during the NBA playoffs of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, whose arena was renamed “Crypto.com Arena” in 2021.

IW

Read the article
Dennis Bakalis / Jan Büchel IW-Trends No. 2 14. June 2024

Data Utilisation and Data Sharing: The Potential and the Reality in German Companies

Companies that store their data extensively in digital form, process it in a structured manner and use it in a variety of ways can become particularly efficient members of the data economy.

IW

More about this topic

Content element with id 8880 Content element with id 9713