Networks, tweets and engagement: Analysis of Spanish university libraries on Twitter

The libraries of Spanish universities have significantly increased their presence and activity on social networks, especially on Twitter. This article analyzes the use that Spanish university libraries (member of the Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias Espaliolas, Rebiun) make of Twitter. Specifically, through the analysis of social networks, content analysis and non-parametric statistical tests, this research analyzes the network generated on Twitter by the 59 Spanish university libraries that have profiles on this platform as well as the purpose, content, the format and engagement of their tweets. The results indicate that the university libraries form a single-component network on Twitter with a certain degree of cohesion, but with several communities, in which the tweets about service information and the tweets with pictures are the most numerous. Tweets with pictures generate greater engagement independently of their content.