Initially, I was very unsure of what data to scrape. After browsing through Temboo’s examples, I came across some code designed to obtain the most shared articles from the NY Times. I modified it to include only the current day’s most shared articles from Facebook.  Additionally, it retrieves the most viewed articles as well. After finding a similar list on the NYTimes website, I decided to filter my search further, only looking at the shares and views of the ‘Arts’ section.

Here are the top three results in each category for 1/27/2015

Most Shared Results:
1) “Recalling a Film From the Liberation of the Camps”
In 1945, filmmakers accompanied Allied troops as they liberated concentration camps.
The documentary Night Will Fall samples their footage and offers eyewitness accounts.
2) “Met Opera Cancels Premiere; Broadway Shows Canceled”
The snowstorm also led to cancellations of a Louis CK performance, dance workshops and music
3) “‘Downton Abbey’ Recap: Thomas and the Heterosexual Household”
Thomas thinks he has problems!

Most Viewed Results:
1) “‘Downton Abbey’ Recap: Thomas and the Heterosexual Household”
Thomas thinks he has problems!
2) “Met Opera Cancels Premiere; Broadway Shows Canceled”
The snowstorm also led to cancellations of a Louis CK performance, dance workshops and music
3) “Snowed In? Here’s What to Watch, Read or Listen To”
Streaming TV, movies, music and books to help you through a winter storm.

What I am interested in here is what people are actually reading compared to what people would like others to think they are reading. I think this is interesting in the field of art especially since it seems like so many artists strive to maintain a

~*Semblance of Sophistication*~

My code is on Github.

I’m not sure yet how I would visualize this information. I’m not even sure if there is enough here to work with. My next step would be parsing the JSON blob received into coherent lists, so I can decide if I want to continue the project with these inquiries.

I do know that I did not use Temboo to it’s full ability and now that the learning curve is accounted for, I’d like to see what else it has to offer.