Marvin Krohn's Network Theory, Big Data, and Network Analysis: Studying Social Deviance in Social Media

Today, we are facing the widespread and increasing influence of social media in various aspects of people's lives, as well as the occurrence of crime and deviant behaviors in the context of these media. Considering the network structure of social media and the possibility of accessing a huge amount of social data in the last decade, we have seen the increasing interest of researchers in various fields, including social sciences, to use big data and network analysis. Despite the acceptance of this approach by sociology of deviance and criminology abroad, we are facing a lack of such studies in the country. The purpose of this article is to introduce Marvin Krohn's network theory, the application of the network analysis approach, and the use of big data in explaining social deviance in the context of social media.

This paper is a review article and the research method is documentary.

After reviewing concepts such as big data and social media, referring to deviance and crime in social media, the application of big data and network analysis in criminology and sociology of deviance is discussed. Considering the theoretical weakness in the current empirical literature, Marvin Krohn's network theory in the field of sociology of deviance is described as a framework that has the ability to overcome this deficiency. Some suitable tools for collecting, analyzing, and visualizing social media big data are introduced.

The integration of the three fields of sociology of deviance by providing theoretical support, network analysis, and big data can be of great help in describing, explaining, and controlling deviant and criminal behaviors in social media. Therefore, it is suggested to establish interdisciplinary cooperation in domestic universities among researchers of social sciences, computer engineering, computer sciences, and data sciences.