Networked Solidarity: An Exploratory Network Perspective on Twitter Activity Related to #illridewithyou

This study examines the nature of issue-based Twitter response networks using the hashtag "#illridewithyou. This hashtag was a response of solidarity towards Muslims in Australia after a hostage incident that occurred in Sydney in December 2014. A network of 11293 users that used the hashtag #illridewithyou and their tweets were analyzed to examine the nature of engagement at network, ego, and semantic levels. Results show that although the #illridewithyou network has some characteristics of scale free networks, including a high clustering coefficient, low mean geodesic distance, and degree distribution approximating the power law, it lacks a giant connected component, but rather is structured into local clusters. Citizen participation, as indicated by out-degree, was considerably high in the network, and the topics discussed in the Tweets ranged from religion and empathy to globalism, multiculturalism and peace. Participants are globally connected but active in small clusters.