The geography of segregated online social networks in the largest US cities

Cities are known for high levels of segregation that manifest in both online and offline environments. Far-reaching consequences of urban segregation include rising disparities, political polarization, and exposure to economic crises. In this chapter, we review the wide amount of literature on the emerging urban science discussion to provide an overview of modern data sources that can reveal the nature of segregation in cities. Our focus is on social interaction in urban spaces through mobility and social networks. Using geolocated Twitter messages in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the US, we demonstrate how the data can quantify social networks around home and as a function of commuting to work. We argue that geotagged social media data enable us to better understand the spatial scale of segregation and the potential mitigation of inequalities through mixing and inclusion. The chapter presents the benefits and limitations of these data sources and discusses potential future research.