Twitter tool helps press track online live debate around the EU referendum
Twitter has unveiled a free tool allowing the press and general public to track live debate during the EU referendum campaign as the vote quickly approaches.
The #EURef Data Hub is a collaboration between UK multimedia news agency the Press Association (PA), and Twitter, where much of the political conversation surrounding the referendum takes place.
The data hub, built by social analytics company Blurrt, measures and displays the levels of Twitter conversation around the Leave and Remain campaigns, who are the most mentioned campaigners, and which topics are driving the most conversation. It will also track users’ emotional reactions to certain topics.
PA’s editorial team will then put the real-time data from Twitter into context, to present the information in an easy, informative way to users of the dashboard. The information will be presented in graphs and visual formats, pitting the two campaigns against each other.
The #EURef Data Hub is openly available to anyone, press or public, who wish to track and use the data. Journalists are free to embed the dashboard on their sites, or reproducing relevant data with the accreditation to source.
Rob Owers, partnerships manager for news and Government at Twitter, said: "The EU Referendum is one of the most hotly debated campaigns of recent times, with both sides putting out a huge range of facts and opinions.
"At Twitter we're uniquely placed to see the live reaction and analysis as our users comment on and question these big announcements in real time, drawing their own conclusions after following the open, public debate happening on their timelines.
"Working with PA on this project we're able to add even more context to the shifts and peaks in conversation, reflecting which topics and personalities are having the greatest impact."
Steve Jones, social media editor at the Press Association, said: “The online debate around the EU referendum campaign is an incredibly important component of the media’s coverage, and this dashboard will be a really useful tool for journalists and the public to keep abreast of what’s being talked about, and how that discussion has changed over time.”