Tweets, Gangs, and Guns: A Snapshot of Gang Communications in Detroit

@article{Patton2017TweetsGA,
  title={Tweets, Gangs, and Guns: A Snapshot of Gang Communications in Detroit},
  author={Desmond Upton Patton and Sadiq Patel and Jun Sung Hong and Megan L. Ranney and Marie Crandall and Lyle Dungy},
  journal={Violence and Victims},
  year={2017},
  volume={32},
  pages={919 - 934}
}
The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of violent and criminal Twitter communications among gang-affiliated individuals in Detroit, Michigan. We analyzed 8.5 million Detroit gang members’ tweets from January 2013 to March 2014 to assess whether they contained Internet banging–related keywords. We found that 4.7% of gang-affiliated user tweets consisted of terms related to violence and crime. Violence and crime-related communications fell into 4 main categories: (a) beefing (267,221… 
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