Using Twitter for Geolocation Purposes During the Hanse Sail 2016 in Rostock

Abstract

This work is embedded in the project KOGGE, which is related to smaller urban water bodies in the city of Rostock. Public participation in water management issues is one of the goals. Thus, twitter messages are an interesting data source, especially for spatially related issues. We developed a strategy to analyze and match twitter messages to locations/events in a smaller city, like Rostock, with the help of a gazetteer. To evaluate our strategy, we used the Hanse Sail 2016 as a big event with nearly one million visitors. We chose such a big event to present the use of such an analysis and to get a bigger database in a shorter timeframe. From 10.08.2016-16.08.2016 we were able to collect more than 6.2 Mio. tweets written in German language. With our gazetteer-matching method we are able to collect a sufficient amount of geolocated tweets. We identify places of particular significance, like the big entertainment stages in the city harbor of Rostock. Finally, we want to develop a tool, which is able to support decisions in urban planning with the usage of social media analysis.