PAPERZILLA
Crunching Academic Papers into Bite-sized Insights.
About
Sign Out
← Back to papers

Social SciencesSocial SciencesCommunication

Building a Media Ecosystem Observatory from Scratch: A Data Infrastructure for Cross-Platform Analysis

SHARE

Overview

Paper Summary
Conflicts of Interest
Identified Weaknesses
Rating Explanation
Good to know
Topic Hierarchy
File Information

Paper Summary

Paperzilla title
Canadian Media Observatory Tracks Online Chatter (But Facebook's Ghosting the Party)
This paper describes the creation of a Canadian Media Ecosystem Observatory to track online political discourse across multiple platforms like X/Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. A key limitation is the incomplete Facebook data due to API access changes.

Possible Conflicts of Interest

None identified. The authors are academics at McGill University.

Identified Weaknesses

Data Volatility
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.
Incomplete Facebook Data
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.
Reliance on Scraping
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.
Seed List Limitations
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.

Rating Explanation

This is a valuable contribution describing an important data infrastructure project, but the significant data gap for Facebook and reliance on scraping for several platforms warrant a moderate rating. The authors transparently acknowledge these limitations.

Good to know

This is our free standard analysis. Paperzilla Pro fact-checks every citation, researches author backgrounds and funding sources, and uses advanced AI reasoning for more thorough insights.
Explore Pro →

Topic Hierarchy

File Information

Original Title:
Building a Media Ecosystem Observatory from Scratch: A Data Infrastructure for Cross-Platform Analysis
File Name:
paper_1493.pdf
[download]
File Size:
0.73 MB
Uploaded:
September 13, 2025 at 07:54 PM
Privacy:
🌐 Public
© 2025 Paperzilla. All rights reserved.

If you are not redirected automatically, click here.