The #GC2012 Twitter Word Cloud Project
Twitter was a powerful tool of engagement during General Conference 2012. I thought it would be fascinating to archive and analyze the updates tagged with #gc2012. On Tuesday morning, I set up an Archive of the #gc2012 hashtag through a HootSuite Pro account. Every day I downloaded the data from the previous day, corrected the date and time to be local for Tampa, removed extraneous data and put it in a spreadsheet. Then I used Wordle to create a word cloud with the text of all the updates for that day. After a few days, I began to edit out Twitter usernames and prominent hashtags to get a better view of the conversation. I hope that you enjoy the results!
Where can I find the data?
The raw data of Twitter updates tagged with #gc2012 are available in a spreadsheet at http://j.mp/Iad0fW. Use the tabs along the bottom of the page to navigate to each day of the conference. (Updated through May 3, 2012)
Where can I download full size images for the entire conference?
I created multiple word clouds for the entire conference in various color schemes and arrangements. You can find the links to these images below.
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – BW – http://j.mp/KRgBkJ
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – WB – http://j.mp/J7cJoQ
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Ghostly – http://j.mp/IPPv7j
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Indian Earth – http://j.mp/KSvgqc
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Firenze – http://j.mp/KXdMsh
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Chilled Summer – http://j.mp/IUQZCg
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Blue Meets Orange – http://j.mp/JMXqUq
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Kindled – http://j.mp/Jqr42u
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Shooting Star – http://j.mp/KhoaA3
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Organic Carrot – http://j.mp/K4CJkD
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Milk Paints – http://j.mp/J7d6zL
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Moss – http://j.mp/KSvDkJ
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – Heat – http://j.mp/KRhCJN
- The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud – yramirP – http://j.mp/Jlnv1n
Where can I download full size images for each day?
You can find the full size downloadable word cloud images created from these Twitter updates with the links below. The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud Project for:
- April 24, 2012 – http://j.mp/ISLHmI
- April 25, 2012 – http://j.mp/Jcsqus
- April 26, 2012 – http://j.mp/IgqxBE
- April 27, 2012 – http://j.mp/Iy50TY
- April 28, 2012 – http://j.mp/IxuGmR
- April 29, 2012 – http://j.mp/IP7MDJ
- April 30, 2012 – http://j.mp/IDGTW6
- May 1, 2012 – http://j.mp/IlvANg
- May 2, 2012 – http://j.mp/KeZCsq
- May 3, 2012 – http://j.mp/J339V7
- May 4, 2012 – http://j.mp/Jlo6A9
How can I support and join in this project?
- Share – Use http://j.mp/JPiBqj to share this blog post with others.
- Analyze – Dig in to the raw Twitter data with the spreadsheet above and share what you discover
- Post – Use the images in your own blog posts, make prints, share with others and include in articles both online and in print.
- Donate – Will you please donate to a few dollars to help cover costs of the archiving service? Use this link to donate securely via PayPal or credit / debit card
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The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud Project Daily Images
Rev. Andrew Conard 
13 replies on “The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud Project”
Thanks for putting this together! It would be interested to do the same thing with comments, observations, recommendations, and motions at General Conference. This gives a flavor of things.
No problem. I was thinking it might be fun to see what it might look like and decided to go ahead and do it!
[…] The Rev. Andrew Conard (@andrewconard) is a pastor, blogger and rising leader in the United Methodist Church. He is also a Twitter user, and has taken it upon himself to analyze the Twitter conversation using the hashtag #gc2012. Each day he is posting a “word cloud” image which graphically interprets the conversation, increasing the size of the word based on the number of times that word appears in the stream. You can follow his project at https://andrewconard.com/2012/04/25/twitter-updates-and-word-cloud-images-from-general-conference-201… […]
[…] to appear. While the words leader and leadership are still very small on Andrew Conard’s Word Cloud for General Conference tweets, I imagine they will gain traction as the conference […]
Fascinating stuff, Andrew. Cool to see GCYP stand out!
Interesting that God is so small and lost in the crowd…
Interesting that God is so small. Makes you wonder….
[…] the word based on the number of times that word appears in the stream. You can follow his project here.What do you see when you see the image?What stands out to you?What speaks to you?What does it say […]
[…] The #gc2012 Word Cloud Project […]
This is fascinating! I wish that ‘hope’ had been more toward the forefront yesterday, though. Thank you for putting this together
Great job Andrew! I think these types of graphics give a good perspective on what’s being talked about.
I realize now- after I suggested you filter out names- that I may have been mistaken. As I thought about that it dawned on me that names can give a good indication of who is saying what and who is being retweeted the most, which often can be as important as the content itself.
Anyway, good stuff and good work.
Powerful communication. Thanks.
[…] a follow up to the The #gc2012 Twitter Word Cloud Project, I completed a similar project for the Kansas West Annual Conference. I collected Twitter updates […]