https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/L_AABACIW307Learning outcomes for this course are the following:Knowing which methods can be used to analyze social media data and corresponding challenges;Developing research questions for a research project based on existing social media literature;Collecting the relevant data for such a research project and making them suitable for analysis;Analyzing the data in a valid and reliable way, using appropriate statistical tests;Reporting the findings of the research project in a report or presentation;Collaborating under time pressure and in a team of peer researchers to complete assignments.Nowadays, data are available in large quantities, and this is particularly the case for social media data. People and organisations use a range of social media platforms to communicate about personal as well as professional topics. Much of this communication is publicly available, for instance on X, TikTok or Instagram, and as such provides a potentially rich source for for language and communication-related research. The challenge, however, is to know how to find, select and collect the data and make them suitable for analysis, how to analyze the data in a valid, reliable, and ethically responsible way, and how to interpret and report your findings. In this course, you will get acquainted with social media analytics. In close collaborating with a small team of students, you will design, conduct, and report a research project that investigates the impact of linguistics features on engagement metrics. You may examine, for instance, to what extent humorous social media posts receive more likes than non-humorous posts, or whether positively framed messages are shared more frequently than negatively framed ones. Or you may investigate the effect of metaphors on social media users' engagement. The course instructor(s) may decide to focus on a specific topic, social media platform or research method, which will be communicated at the start of the course.Each week for six weeks, there will be one lecture and one seminar. The lectures will be focused on theoretical and empirical research and research methods related to social media analytics. During the seminars, you will work on (group) assignments in which you set up and conduct a research project to investigate the impact of social media message characteristics on audience engagement. Attendance is mandatory for the seminar meetings, and highly recommended for the lectures. This course has seminars, but you cannot self-register for a group. In the first week of the course, the course coordinator will assign you to a seminar group. If you want to know at what day and time the seminars are scheduled, go to rooster.vu.nl, click on the options at the right hand side of the course title and select ‘Choose groups’.Attendance in the seminars and reporting on the progress of the group project (pass/fail); assessment of learning objectives 2-4 and 6Presenting the group's research project during a final symposium (50% of the final grade; group assignment); assessment of learning objectives 2-5Written exam (50% of final grade, individual assignment); assessment of learning objective 1A list of required literature will be made available on Canvas.3rd-year students in Communication and Information Studies, specialisation Language and Media; exchange students.Basic knowledge of descriptive and inferential statistics is highly recommended, as you will need to conduct, interpret and report statistical analyses in your research report.