The Rise of Big Data in Communication Sciences: A Bibliometric Mapping of the Literature

Abstract

Today's digital world is characterized by advances in communication and information technologies. Internet technology provides a variety of communication channels like social media platforms, social network sites, search engines, blogs, forums, websites and e-mails. The users of these channels create digital traces which are the main source of big data in communication studies in social sciences. Big social data analytics in communication studies provides quantitative indicators to fully understand current situations rather than predefined cause and effect relationships. This study aims to investigate the studies in big data and communication in social sciences between the years 2014 and 2018. Web of Science Social Science Citation Index journals are selected to present systematic and quantitative analysis of the research field. Bibliometric analysis results provide insights about big data usage and expansion in the communication field not previously grasped by other reviews on this special topic. Bibliometric tools helped to identify research clusters, key research topics, and network and collaboration patterns in big data and communication studies in a social sciences context. This bibliometric mapping of the field visually illustrates the evolution of studies over time and identifies current research interests and future directions for the followers.