[论文解读] A Tale of Two Communities: Characterizing Reddit Response to COVID-19 through /r/China_Flu and /r/Coronavirus.

Jason Shuo Zhang, Brian Keegan+2 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jun 8, 2020

Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection被引用 9

一句话总结

本研究分析了在早期COVID-19大流行期间，Reddit的/r/China_Flu和/r/Coronavirus社区的用户行为与社区动态，发现活动量在2020年3月17日世界卫生组织宣布大流行后达到高峰，其中由于监管不严，/r/China_Flu社区的极端化趋势日益明显，而/r/Coronavirus则成为大流行相关讨论的中心枢纽。研究还识别出溢出效应，即在重新开放后，旅游和体育类子版块的用户活动水平仍低于大流行前水平。

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted people's lives around the globe. During the extended lockdowns caused by the pandemic, online communities are crucial for people to access information and share experiences. In particular, two new communities have emerged on Reddit: /r/China_flu and /r/Coronavirus. By studying activities and users in these two communities, we provide a characterization of people's responses to COVID-19 on Reddit. First, we find that user activity peaks around March 17, when the World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19 as a pandemic. Shortly after that, the activity levels of both communities have been declining week by week. We further illustrate the central role of these two communities in the emergence of COVID-related communities. Second, we study the differences between these two communities. /r/Coronavirus is recommended as the official community for COVID-19 on Reddit, while /r/China_flu adopts a loose moderation practice. As a result, we observe that these two communities are gradually growing apart and more extremism is being found in /r/China_flu. Finally, we examine the spillover effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on user activity across the entire Reddit platform. Our results show significant changes in user activities outside COVID-related communities. In subreddits related to finance, food, and countries/cities, user activity is recovering to the pre-pandemic level in late April and May as countries reopen, but subreddits related to travel and sports remain highly impacted and show lower activity levels than the pre-pandemic period. Our work highlights the strength of Reddit as a source for understanding public reactions to COVID-19 and the importance of content moderation on the Internet during a pandemic.

研究动机与目标

• 了解Reddit上的在线社区在COVID-19大流行初期的反应方式。
• 比较/r/China_Flu和/r/Coronavirus在结构和行为上的差异，特别是监管方式和用户极端化程度。
• 考察这些社区在Reddit上更广泛的大流行相关讨论形成过程中所起的作用。
• 评估大流行对非COVID相关子版块用户活动的溢出效应。
• 评估内容监管在公共卫生危机期间对社区健康和信息传播的长期影响。

提出的方法

• 分析2020年2月至5月期间/r/China_Flu和/r/Coronavirus的用户活动日志与监管实践。
• 对活动高峰进行时间序列分析，特别是围绕2020年3月17日世界卫生组织宣布大流行的节点。
• 比较社区特征，包括监管风格、用户参与度和内容极端化程度。
• 通过跨社区分析，识别/r/Coronavirus在更广泛的大流行相关子版块形成过程中所起的核心作用。
• 将非COVID相关子版块（如金融、食品、旅游、体育）的用户活动与大流行前基线进行纵向对比。
• 利用平台整体指标，检测大流行相关讨论在专用社区之外的溢出效应。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 在世界卫生组织宣布大流行后，/r/China_Flu和/r/Coronavirus的用户活动如何变化？
• RQ2 /r/China_Flu和/r/Coronavirus在监管实践上的差异在多大程度上影响了社区行为和内容极端化程度？
• RQ3 这两个社区在多大程度上作为其他COVID相关子版块出现的枢纽？
• RQ4 大流行如何影响非COVID-19讨论子版块（如旅游、体育和金融）的用户参与度？
• RQ5 在国家重新开放后，非疫情相关子版块的用户活动是否恢复到大流行前水平？

主要发现

• /r/China_Flu和/r/Coronavirus的用户活动在2020年3月17日达到峰值，与世界卫生组织正式宣布大流行的时间点一致。
• 在峰值之后的几周内，两个社区的活动量持续下降，表明公众的即时参与度正在减弱。
• /r/Coronavirus社区发展成为大流行相关讨论的中心枢纽，具有更高的可见度和Reddit的官方认可。
• /r/China_Flu社区由于监管宽松，极端化程度持续上升，导致其与/r/Coronavirus的分歧日益加剧。
• 与金融和食品相关的子版块在2020年4月下旬至5月期间，用户活动已恢复至大流行前水平，与国家重新开放时间点一致。
• 与旅游和体育相关的子版块用户活动水平仍显著低于大流行前水平，表明大流行的影响具有长期性。