What can we learn about social integration in London from Twitter?

At the beginning of 2019 the Greater London Authority (GLA) commissioned Ipsos MORI to develop a deeper understanding of social integration using publicly accessible Twitter data. 

The research sought to measure the sentiment expressed in Tweets sent within and about London across a range of social integration sub-topics. It also sought to assess how the topics and sentiment contained in Tweets differed by demographic and by London Borough.

The research also aimed to identify a methodology that could be repeated at different points in the future to collect comparable data, so that changes in sentiment or topic frequency could be tracked over time.

Twitter was found to be a rich source of information relating to social integration in London. It provided anecdotal insight into the impact of social integration; both positive and negative. However, findings from Twitter - while of value in their own right - cannot be generalised to the wider population.