Nerding out on twitter: fun, patriotism and #curiosity

This paper presents an analysis of tweets collected over six days before, during and after the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory, known as Curiosity, in the Gale Crater on the 6th of August 2012. A sociological application of web science is demonstrated by use of parallel coordinate visualization as part of a mixed methods study. The results show strong, predominantly positive, international interest in the event. Scientific details dominated the stream, but, following the successful landing, other themes emerged such as fun, and national pride.

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