Can Twitter predict the mayor’s election?
Dear fans of inewsource,
Doubters and Twitter addicts alike, check out an application on inewsource.org that tracks tweets, retweets, influential tweeters and other Twitter activity around the four leading candidates in the race for San Diego mayor. You never know what social media may reveal …
This application, called ElectionPath, was developed by Professor Ming-Hsiang Tsou of SDSU’s Department of Geography, along with colleagues and research students.
We at inewsource are not social scientists, and we believe this technology is too new to say definitively whether it is a bellwether for election results. But as a data-driven journalism organization, we’re interested in following Tsou’s work, and believe you might be, as well.
Tsou and his team are our newest collaborators. He’s sharing ElectionPath with us; we’re sharing our Follow the Money data with his team so they can build a colorful, cool-looking map that tracks campaign contributions by ZIP code. Brad Racino, inewsource investigative reporter, tells the story.
We’ve got the latest money numbers up today, too. You can catch Joe “Follow the Money” Yerardi on KPBS radio this morning or on Evening Edition tonight at 5 and 6:30.
So, with less than two weeks to the mayoral election, you’ll have all the money info and Twitter chatter you’ll want right here at inewsource.org before casting your vote.
Local elections will never be the same!
And remember … if you like this kind of journalism, we can’t do it without your support. Become a member today. And forward this email to a friend.
— Lorie Hearn, executive director
loriehearn@inewsource.org