A Social Network Analysis of
Negative Reddit Sentiment
Social Network: Reddit Hyperlink Network -
How Network Analysis May Help in Reducing Toxicity and
Negative Activity on Subreddits.
Abstract:
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Toxicity and negative activity pervade social media platforms, posing critical challenges, including potential revenue loss for advertisers. This study focuses on Reddit, a prominent online community, aiming to discern the sources and targets of negativity through intercommunity conflict. A comprehensive dataset spanning 40 months, comprising 2.3 billion comments and posts sourced from pushshift.io, is examined. Encompassing 36,000 communities, the dataset incorporates textual content, posting timestamps, and subreddit affiliations.
By scrutinizing instances of intercommunity conflict, particularly where subreddits engage in mobilization or attacks against others, this investigation unveils the underlying dynamics of toxic behavior. Conflict events are identified through hyperlink interactions between subreddits, emphasizing negative sentiment and subsequent amplification of antisocial behavior. Analyzing 137,113 cross-links, this study represents the relationships using a sparse adjacency matrix, enabling exploration of connectivity, clustering patterns, and network-based algorithms encompassing community detection and centrality measures.
This research tackles fundamental inquiries utilizing sophisticated network analysis techniques. Employing Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM), the study elucidates network ties between subreddits. Furthermore, influential users and subreddits are identified through node-centric measures such as Eigenvector centrality. Community detection algorithms are implemented to discern latent subgroups within the network based on interaction patterns. Sentiment analysis is employed to classify comments and posts as positive or negative, while temporal analysis facilitates the identification of temporal fluctuations in toxicity.
By leveraging network analysis, this study enriches our comprehension of toxicity and negative activity within the Reddit community, providing valuable insights for mitigating these challenges. Identifying problematic subreddits and unveiling patterns associated with toxic behavior empowers the implementation of proactive measures to reduce negativity, enhance user experience, and safeguard revenue streams for social media platforms.