Measuring the networked public: Exploring network science methods for large scale online media studies

This thesis explores network science methods and media and communication theory to investigate structures and dynamics of national and global publics. It does so in two studies: one regarding the sharing of hashtags and links on Twitter around acute events, such as the Sydney Siege; the other about communities, publics, and possible echo chambers in the Australian Twitter follower network. It leads to new evidence about structures and dynamics within communities and the public sphere on Twitter, revealing the epistemological implications of network analysis algorithms and outlining a methodological framework to better connect media and communication studies with network science