Facebook data infrastructure

DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP Peter Vahlstrup & Anja Bechmann 1

DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS: FACEBOOK DATA INFRASTRUCTURE



Research interest

•  More fenced-off and ubiquitous internet (cross-platform/cross-services through login)

•  How do we get access to closed data about users on private social networks as tool in virtual ethnography (e.g. Facebook)

–  In order to analyze user behaviors with FB across websites –  User data structures –  Analyze navigation outside FB but related to FB (checkins) –  Analyze use patterns during the day (timely) –  Analyze digital cross-platform use of FB (laptop, smartphones,

pdas) –  Analyze exposures to content from other website/media


Existing methods

•  Virtual ethnography (howard, wittel, marcus, markham, kendall, baym, boyd)

•  Friending: –  You are not sure to get all activity because of sorting

algorithms of Facebook –  You must manually export them to see patterns over time

•  Following them physically –  Time consuming –  Too much intervention in everyday rhytms –  But you will get a lot of detail on the context of activity on

Facebook that is not possible to get otherwise


DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS as data retrieval tool

•  Act as an external ‘company’/third party when extracting data from Facebook

•  Designed a webbased system called DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS

•  Using Facebook’s graph API •  User consent that DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS draw info on users

like any other application/website using facebook connect •  Users can withdraw anytime they like •  Researchers can mine data from the users and answer

research questions in qualitative studies




Digital Footprints


Data extractions e.g.

•  Demographics •  Newsfeeds •  Network and friends •  Likes •  Check-ins •  Private/public groups •  Pictures, status updates and uploaded material •  Friends material through consent of the

participant etc. etc. etc….



•  www.digitalfootprints.dk/login


Methodological triangulation (e.g.)

1.  Harvesting private data with consent, mining these data (DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS)

2. Focus group interviews with participants to understand their attitudes and strategies

->Digital Footprints can help answer “what” and qualify other methods for asking “why”


Strengths & limitations

•  Strenghts –  Researchers can easily send link via email to participants, asking them to sign

up for the research project –  Researchers can access closed data without profiles being public –  Data is saved in database which makes it possible to extract and sort different

patterns –  Digital Footprints also allow researchers to study the newsfeed of the

participants –  Researchers can study a variety of Facebook activities in one system

•  Limitations –  Methodologically users must be chosen beforehand and asked to participate –  Not representative sampling/data –  Digital Footprints relies on the graph API settings which is controlled by

Facebook –  Therefore “only” qualitative virtual ethnographic tool –  Cannot register user traffic patterns (click-through analysis)


Future research

•  (How) can we make data retrieval through Facebook Graph APIs representative – how do we recruit for quantitative analysis

•  Problems: –  Representative users or certain kind of users that uses this

application –  If not application – certain types of users that has public profiles –  What is the Facebook population from which we sample?

•  What about the ethical question of retrieving friends data as well?

•  Problems: –  When retrieving data friends will comment, like etc. on the participant’s

data and therefore be visible in the system –  Working on effective anonymization methods


Law & Ethics

•  Privacy Law: –  Comply to EU directive 1995, 1999, 2002, 2011 (with explicit consent, limited time,

explicit purpose, only data needed for that specific purpose etc.)

•  Danish Data Protection Agency: –  Apply for permission to make research project involving personal and sensitive user

data

•  Facebook’s terms of (data) use: –  You cannot redistribute user data to any third party stakeholder –  User must be able to delete their data from the research project –  Keep info up to date….?? –  User’s friends data can only be used in the context of the user’s experience on your

application…??

•  Ethics: –  Is it okay to mine on data even with consent for research purpose? What are the

arguments for and against?



Articles submitted/in preparation

•  Bechmann, A. & Vahlstrup, P.: (in review) Digital Footprints: Studying private user data on Facebook, CHI’13, Paris.

•  Bechmann, A & Lomborg, S. (in review): Open APIs as a method for data collection on social media, The information Society, pp.1-20.

•  Bechmann, A (in preparation): Personal data attitudes and behaviors in the EU and US.


Thank you! Digital Footprint: http://digitalfootprints.dk

Peter Vahlstrup Lead programmer Aarhus University [email protected]

Anja Bechmann Head of Digital Footprints Research Group Aarhus University [email protected]

Documents

Facebook data infrastructure