International workshop on NodeXL Pro and Network Analysis

In today’s digital age, social media and networks have become a prominent area of research due to their pervasive influence. To further explore this area, an international workshop titled “Social Network & NodeXL Pro: A Few Clicks to Insights” was held on 7 August 2024 via Zoom which saw about 50 participants. The workshop aimed to introduce the importance of social media research and provide an overview of NodeXL Pro for analysing social media data. The workshop also allowed participants to learn tips and tricks to collect, analyse, visualise, report and present insights into social media networks.

Dr Marc A. Smith introducing the NodeXL Pro

The international workshop was a collaborative effort between the Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT), UTAR and the Social Media Research (SMR) Foundation. The guest speakers were Dr Marc A. Smith, a sociologist and director at the SMR Foundation in Silicon Valley, California, and Dr Mohd Ali Samsudin, an associate professor from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), with Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) academics Mr Tiew Chia Chun and Puan Ayu Rita binti Mohamad serving as the moderator and the emcee respectively.

Following the welcome remarks from CLT Chairperson, Dr Wei Chooi Yi and a speech by Organising Chairperson, Mr Tiew Chia Chun, Dr Smith began his presentation. He emphasised the importance of developing tools for scholars to collect, analyse, and summarise data from various social media platforms, highlighting NodeXL Pro as a key resource for this purpose.

Dr Smith (second from top left) explaining how users are connected

Dr Smith explained that social media networks are composed of connections between users, forming clusters where central users are influential. He stated, “In network theory, we are interested in identifying who occupies which position in the graph. Networks consist of clusters rather than being singular entities. The people at the centre of these clusters hold influence, making it easier to determine who plays a significant role in discussions. Social media becomes truly social when people interact within these networks. Viewing social media in this way aids our research.”

Following that, Dr Smith demonstrated NodeXL Pro’s key features, such as data importation from social media platforms, network and content analysis, and visualisation. He demonstrated by extracting a sample of information and importing it into NodeXL Pro, which then automated the information and visualised it as a network.

A demonstration of how NodeXL Pro visualises sample data

Dr Ali during the workshop

Dr Ali followed with a discussion on incorporating network analysis using NodeXL Pro into university courses, sharing his experience with an elective course for Master of Business Administration at USM’s Graduate School of Business. Dr Ali stated, “Social media analysis is still quite new in Malaysia. But I believe it can be very beneficial as it can help us understand how people behave and what desires people have. With NodeXL Pro, a wider data can be collected from all around the world, unlike traditional questionnaires.”

Dr Ali introducing a course that incorporates NodeXL Pro

Dr Smith continued by showcasing the advanced features of NodeXL Pro, including a dashboard for data overviews, and tools for creating pie and bar charts and making comparisons with ease.

Advanced features of NodeXL Pro

The workshop was highly informative, providing valuable insights into social network concepts and teaching participants how to prepare data for network analysis, generate reports, and present findings using NodeXL Pro. Additionally, participants were offered a 30-day free user license for NodeXL Pro, sponsored by the SMR Foundation.

The event concluded with a Q&A session, during which Dr Smith left participants with a significant takeaway, saying, “To understand human interactions, we must study where people are. By doing more research about social networks, we can understand each other and the latest trends in the market or politics to further improve our society.”

Group photography session