Visualization and Social Media Data Analysis: preliminary studies about data analysts' perception

This paper presents preliminary results of a survey conducted to understand the needs of social network data analysts in relation to data visualization. Semistructured interviews were conducted in order to find out if analysts know and use data visualization, as well how they consider it important. This is work in progress that aims to raise a discussion on understanding the needs of analysts in relation to data visualization. From the data collected, it could be observed that social media data analysts know the concept of data visualization, and they believe that its use could significantly improve the analysis process. Some analysts think tools are complex, and others consider that the available tools do not fully meet their needs.