The Big Content Machine

The BCM is a lightweight open source software tool and has been designed to be used with the Windows; Mac OS and Linux operating systems. To use the software it is necessary to install Java (64 bit) and then download and install the package later in 2024. The BCM allows for the analysis of large sets of data extracted from a variety of social media, and, given sufficient memory (4GB RAM), and disk space, it will comfortably analyse several million posts. However, it is not a general-purpose data mining tool. Neither is the BCM a business intelligence, spreadsheet or visualization tool. That said, it has the functionality to export data in a variety of formats (including CSV and TSV) so that further analytical and visualization work can be performed in other software packages.

A paper which explains the methodological underpinnings of the tool is in the final stages of being drafted along with a manual for using the tool. We expect that as the BCM is used by others, a variety of methods could be engaged with. However, at this stage, perhaps the closest existing methods are Content Analysis and the Grounded Theory method. Both of these are widely known and accepted across many fields and disciplines.

The tool has already been tested to support REF impact case studies in 2021 in areas such as online maternity care and the self management of long term conditions, as well as more specific projects including those concerned with the NSFW tag, online peer sexual health education and the public sexual cultures operationalised during the COVID 19 Pandemic in the UK.

Researchers attached to this project are Professor Ben Light, Dr Christian Clausner, Dr Lisa Garwood-Cross, Dr Paul Hepburn and Dr Cristina Vasilica.