Tools for social networks monitoring and analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Networks and associations have been used by human beings since the dawn of mankind, and their analysis raises concerns in several sectors of society. Social Network Analysis studies the relationships among people and the social structure, it compares e-commerce with company competence, and so on. It is an emerging area that is essential to decision-making processes due to its ability to analyze and interpose in the behavior of the structures. 
Objective: To analyze three Social Network Analysis tools for monitoring conversations about the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) in order to measure their sentiment, to manage social efforts and to relate the flows between entities and groups. 
Methodology: Essay. 
Results: The most important property of the Social Network Analysis tools is the fact that they are free and virtual. On the one hand, results show that the number of searches dated from 2004 about the IFLA is decreasing in relation to the total number of searches that have been made in Google. On the other hand, it is interesting to highlight that the regional interest does not fully coincide between Google Trends e Google Insight. 
Conclusions: The study analyzed tools specialized in recording the activity on social media, which have a high potential for conducting monitoring in the field of public relations as well as in a basic and applied research context.