Using Location-Based Social Media Data to Observe Check-In Behavior and Gender Difference: Bringing Weibo Data into Play

Population density and distribution of services represents the growth and demographic shift of the cities. For urban planners, population density and check-in behavior in space and time are vital factors for planning and development of sustainable cities. Location-based social network (LBSN) data seems to be a complement to many traditional methods (i.e., survey, census) and is used to study check-in behavior, human mobility, activity analysis, and social issues within a city. This check-in phenomenon of sharing location, activities, and time by users has encouraged this research on gender difference and frequency of using LBSN. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the check-in behavior of Chinese microblog Sina Weibo (referred as “Weibo”) in 10 districts of Shanghai, China, for which we observe the gender difference and their frequency of use over a period. The mentioned districts were spatially analyzed for check-in spots by kernel density estimation (KDE) using ArcGIS. Furthermore, our results reveal that female users have a high rate of social media use, and significant difference is observed in check-in behavior during weekdays and weekends in the studied districts of Shanghai. Increase in check-ins is observed during the night as compared to the morning. From the results, it can be assumed that LBSN data can be helpful to observe gender difference.