Occupy Wall Street Twitter News Site to Launch 2012 Election Coverage

By Lisa Eadicicco | February 17 2012 6:09 PM

Social media has revolutionized the way information is shared, and a new Internet feature is taking it a step further. Twitris, a Web application developed in Ohio, analyzes social media content pertaining to natural disasters, current events and other ongoing national news.

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Dr. Amit P. Sheth is behind the idea, and Mashable reported that the director of Kno.e.sis Center in Dayton, Ohio, garnered interest in the project while tracking events in India when the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008.

A version of the social media analysis site was initially launched to cover the Mumbai terrorist attacks, and a new one was created for the Occupy Wall St. movement. A Twitris dedicated to Election 2012 coverage is set to debut in a couple of weeks according to SemanticWeb.com.

Sheth collaborated with students at Wright State University to build the app, which is also programmed to pull up news articles and Wikipedia pages to educate readers about events.

You are analyzing the tweets but then you have to find out the names of the people mentioned, who is alive or dead, Sheth said to SemanticWeb.com.

Not only does the website record news-related tweets, but it also includes an up-to-date urban dictionary to interpret slang and sarcasm.

Mashable reported that about 46.5 million tweets from 4.7 million Twitter users have been processed so far, with 4.1 million from the Occupy Wall St. movement. The website's interface allows users to scroll through an interactive real-time map that pinpoints activity based on the Occupy Wall Street protest.

For media, it provides an excellent opportunity to summarize an event, as well as monitor the evolution of the event from multiple dimensions, the app's creator said to Mashable.

Twitter has been fostering attention recently when it comes to massive information sharing. This year's Super Bowl matchup placed second in the records for most tweets per second, with 10,245 TPS. In first place is the Dec. 2011 premiere of anime film Castle in the Sky which reached 25,088 TPS. Other honorable mentions include the MTV Video Awards/Beyoncé in 2011 and the passing of Steve Jobs this past Oct.