Network mapping is a modern tool that can distill complex interactions of individuals or characters. Researchers can use it to uncover hidden patterns in relationships, hubs, and cliques and display them in a single visual map.
Take, for example, the fantasy novel series The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski, which was turned into a series by Netflix. Data scientist Milán Janosov created the social network map by collecting a list of characters in each book from the Witcher Wiki, a platform that recorded all 690 named characters across all the books and the Netflix show. He then tokenized every book into a list of sentences and labeled each sentence by the name of the characters appearing in that sentence. From the data he collected, Janosov noticed that the resulting network had two major communities, one centered around Ciri and the other around Geralt.
In addition to creating the network map, Janosov also compared the novels and the Netflix adaptation through social network analysis. The network and data science researcher used the public API of Google Trends to show the series’ impact in generating public interest.
Image credit: Milán Janosov
#TheWitcher #research #datascience #networkmapping #socialnetwork #fiction