The dynamic nature of social media means posts can be deleted, accounts privatized, and engagement metrics altered, creating potential data drift and hindering perfect replication of results.
Due to the discontinuation of CrowdTangle and challenges with alternative solutions, there's a gap in Facebook data collection after August 2024, hindering a complete view of online discussions.
For platforms like Instagram and X/Twitter, data collection relies on scraping, which is less stable than API access and susceptible to platform changes or anti-scraping measures, potentially affecting data quality and consistency.
While aiming for comprehensive coverage, the seed list excludes municipal politicians from smaller towns and may not capture all news outlets, limiting the scope of analysis, particularly at the local level.