Reshaping the urban hierarchy: patterns of information diffusion on social media

ABSTRACT The spatial diffusion of information is a process governed by the flow of interpersonal communication. The emergence of the Internet and especially social media platforms has reshaped this process and previous research has studied how online social networks contribute to the diffusion of information. Understanding such processes can help devise methods to maximize or control the reach of information or even identify upcoming events and social movements. Yet activities in cyberspace are still confined to physical locations and this geographic connection tends to be overlooked. In this research, we focus on geographic regions instead of individuals and study how the underlying hierarchical structure of regions relates to their response to the information. We examined the top 30 populated cities and metropolitan areas in the U.S. and retrieved Twitter data related to two selected topics from these regions, the 2015 Nepal Earthquake and the #JesuisCharlie hashtag in response to the Paris attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices. We analyzed the similarity among regions of their response using multiple statistical methods and three urban classifications. Our results indicate that the diffusion of information is impacted by the hierarchy of urban regions and that the Twitter responses act more similar when the populated regions are positioned at the same level in the urban hierarchy.