The Knight News Innovation Lab at Northwestern University launched technology this week that brings transparency and insight to any Twitter feed.
twXray (pronounced “twix-ray”) analyzes and categorizes tweets in a user’s Twitter feed to identify the topics they tweet about most – from politics to food to energy to sports.
Users simply enter a Twitter handle into twXray.knightlabprojects.com and the site retrieves the most recent few hundred tweets, analyzes them, and produces a chart about what topics are discussed most frequently by that handle.
The tool provides insight for Twitter users who want to know what topics they (or any other Twitter user) have discussed most.
At the moment twXray provides interesting insight for individual Twitter users, but the base technology could be modified to provide personalized recommendations for news content or social contacts. It might also provide insight into the priorities of political candidates or an easy way to compare two entities – politicians, say, or news organizations.
Please check the tool out at twXray.knightlabprojects.com and write knightnewslab@northwestern.edu with questions or comments.
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