Data, data, lots of data (about this board)

[SummerLightning]

I posted this on the Westministenders thread, but thought I would add a new thread for it.

There was some discussion about getting some stats about posting times and what/who people posted about at one point a while back.

So I ran some basic analysis on threads and posts on here. You can see a nice graph of it here

public.tableau.com/shared/B6QDZQKDH?:display_count=yes

It looks better on a desktop rather than a phone, though I think it will work on a phone.

Select a date or a group of dates at the top and you can see the top posters for that date or set of dates.

Select a poster and you can see the dates they posted.

I have made a basic stab at colouring some of the more prolific posters blue (remain) or red (leave) according to their persuasions.

Here are some facts I put together:

There have been over 127,000 posts on the board since it started

Over 5000 of these are from one user alone. I will leave you to look at the stats to see who that is

Of the top 10 posters only one is pro-leave

There have been 36 Westministenders threads. So that’s over 35000 posts.

There have been 11 Brexit arms threads.

There are several peaks of posting:
The referendum date (over 5000 posts on 26th June)
Around 3rd November (probably the Tory party conference?)
Around 17th Jan (when it became apparent that yes we were leaving the single market)
Around 17th Feb (not sure? Tony Blair throwing in his tuppence perhaps?)
29th March (Article 50)

Enjoy. If you want to, I think you can download the actual data I used from this link too.

(I did it to learn some new skills rather than to prove any political point, btw. Oh and Tableau is awesome)

PS There is nothing "dodgy" or "hacky" about this, it is very basic taking data from the internet where you all put it . I know nothing about you posters except your usernames (no Cambridge Analytica cleverness from me!).

[RufusTheRenegadeReindeer]

Well i am glad you learned something while doing it



I just thought you must be really bored

Will have a little look though

[histinyhandsarefrozen]

Phew I didn't make the leader board
It doesn't take into account name changing though, does it?

[Eeeeeowwwfftz]

summer thanks

rufus Smiley or no smiley, that was a very shitty comment in my opinion. Tell me one interesting thing that you've ever done.

[histinyhandsarefrozen]

It's a thing of beauty though, that's for sure!

[Bearbehind]

I can't say I'm entirely happy with this being posted.

I've absolutely nothing to hide but it's all a bit too big brother like for me.

[Anlaf]

Ooh! I loves this - and didn't know tableau had a public version. Looked at getting the enterprise version a while back and it was vrai expensive.

It is interesting how the referendum date (+/- a week or so) acts as either the start or end of many posters' posting history on the board. [I am one of the post-ref starters, altho under a different uname].

[time4chocolate]

Have to agree with Bear and Rufus.

There is something uncomfortable about this but can't quite put my finger on why/what (and I'm not even on it).

[Peregrina]

As one retired from IT, I like this sort of stuff. Which is partly why I feature in second place - I still work on the computer with various voluntary activities and mess around on MN.

[Tanith]

I'm wondering why you've coloured some of the posters and not others. You've got Svetlana33 down as "unknown", for example, when she's very obviously pro-Leave.

It seems to me a very clumsy way of attempting to show... well - what, exactly?

If you're bothered, why not put in a freedom of information request to Mumsnet: they can tell you a lot more about who posters really are.

[Anlaf]

I think (if you know about it) being the analysee in a data analysis can feel intrusive, maybe a bit like you're being exposed or judged?

I do a decent amount of analysis as my job and so tend towards seeing -ooh patterns- rather than anything personal about the people whose data I'm looking at.

I will not attempt to alarm you with all the data on us and our behaviour that is being tracked and analysed bloody tripadvisor everywhere I go but there is a lot these days, and I'm happy enough when people are open about what they're doing. and there are lovely graphs

[Bearbehind]

I'm happy enough when people are open about what they're doing

But why would the OP have done this if not to provide information to allow others to judge?

Yes it shows I waste far too much time on here but what business is that of anyone else but me?

If the OP wanted to do this for their own amusement then whatever but posting it here is out of order IMO and not in the spirit of this site.

[Anlaf]

I'll let OP answer the why, but for me it's genuinely fascinating to see the patterns of engagement over time - e.g. at key dates.

The data is already anonymous (in the strict sense) through usernames, but you'd obviously normally anonymise data like this so it couldn't be tied to an individual. I suspect the fact that it is not (to us) anonymous cos we can see our own history, means it feels more intrusive than otherwise.

Your time on the EU ref board is never time wasted though!

[RufusTheRenegadeReindeer]

summer

I hope when you read my post you realised that i wasnt saying you were boring or that your post or information was boring

As i didnt actually say that

I just thought its one if those things you do when you are bored , a bit like counting how many times your manager says 'actually' during a meeting

[surferjet]

Damn! I didn't make the top 10.
< must try harder >

[RufusTheRenegadeReindeer]

And i cant see where i said it wasn't interesting either...

[RufusTheRenegadeReindeer]

Im not even on it surfer

[surferjet]

Those top two can't do anything other than post on MN - I seriously feel like I spend half my life on here and I'm nowhere near them.
It's a bit shocking how much time people spend on here isn't it really.....& actually a bit sad. & I don't mean that in a patronising way at all, just in a 'haven't you got anything else going on in your life' kind of way.

[surferjet]

How can you not be on it rufus ? you're always propping up the bleedin' bar - I demand a recount! 😂😂

[RufusTheRenegadeReindeer]

I know surfer



I do like to pop in for a bevvy

[StrugglingSevens]

Interesting. How did you get the data?

[histinyhandsarefrozen]

I fear name-changing renders this flawed. Sorry!

[Tanith]

"I'll let OP answer the why, but for me it's genuinely fascinating to see the patterns of engagement over time - e.g. at key dates."

Isn't it obvious that this would happen? It doesn't need data analysis to work it out and shouldn't really come as a surprise. An increased interest in the media is bound to generate more posting.

[Dannythechampion]

Have some posters stopped posting?

There seem to be lots of names on that list that haven't posted recently!

[Cailleach1]

"If you're bothered, why not put in a freedom of information request to Mumsnet: they can tell you a lot more about who posters really are."

That would make me a lot more uncomfortable. To send the heavies around, or what?

Just wondering if you looked at present posters and their (our) frequency. Or if you looked at the numerous posters who seemed to overwhelm everything around the clock at one point.

What I mean did you look at a certain date and see who was most prolific or did you look at present posters and see when they were at their most active.

I suppose it won't capture a group of 50 posters who come and post with a particular purpose in mind and then disappear.

[squishysquirmy]

Summer: I mainly just lurk on the Westministenders threads, but this is fascinating. Thankyou. I don't think there is anything to feel uncomfortable about - all the graph shows is information that is out in the open anyway, you've just made it much easier to visualise posting behaviour.