  In this article, we develop a method that uses altmetric data to analyse
researchers' interactions, as a way of mapping the contexts of potential
societal impact. In the face of an increasing policy demand for quantitative
methodologies to assess societal impact, social media data (altmetrics) has
been presented as a potential method to capture broader forms of impact.
However, current altmetric indicators were extrapolated from traditional
citation approaches and are seen as problematic for assessing societal impact.
In contrast, established qualitative methodologies for societal impact
assessment are based on interaction approaches. These argue that assessment
should focus on mapping the contexts in which engagement among researchers and
stakeholders take place, as a means to understand the pathways to societal
impact. Following these approaches, we propose to shift the use of altmetric
data towards network analysis of researchers and stakeholders. We carry out two
case studies, analysing researchers' networks with Twitter data. The comparison
illustrates the potential of Twitter networks to capture disparate degrees of
policy engagement. We propose that this mapping method can be used as an input
within broader methodologies in case studies of societal impact assessment.
