Free and Low-Cost Twitter Research Software Tools for Social Science

Twitter is an important object of research in social science studies, and the emergence of numerous Twitter software tools has provided researchers with the possibility of gaining insights into Twitter data; however, at the same time, early stage researchers may experience difficulties in selecting the most suitable tool for their own projects. Due to personal or institutional financial constraints, the purchase of commercial software is not a wise investment for all researchers. Hence, this article aims to provide a review of nine different free-of-charge and low-cost software tools for studying Twitter and highlights their advantages and disadvantages, in order to serve as a guide for social science scholars. This review is divided into two parts: background information and data retrieval features of the software tools, and their data analysis features. At the end of the review, several recommendations and suggestions are made for the use of these tools.