Network Analysis of “C” Level Executives on Social Media

Abstract

Twitter is becoming a much more common platform for all age groups and backgrounds. It provides an avenue to connect millions of people from diverse experiences and interests. The following thesis explores this connectivity between businesspeople across the world. It studies the relationships between 345 "C" level executives with a Twitter presence. This paper also researches the factors that form communities as well as what profile characteristics makes an account more popular. Metrics of measurement for social networks are defined and applied to this selected network. Qualitative profile information as well as lists of each of the accounts the 345 users are following are analyzed via visualization and exploration software to gain a better understanding of these popular profiles. Ultimately, this thesis seeks to determine if similar interests, popularity and reputation, and verified profiles influence the popularity of an account in a network.