Is word adoption a grassroots process? An analysis of Reddit communities

Jeremy R. Cole, Moojan Ghafurian, David Reitter

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examines how novel words originate in and disperse through online communities. It asks whether larger numbers of people or closer social ties are better environments to foster the adoption of new words. The data stem from Reddit, a large sample of web-mediated, asynchronous conversations. Reddit communities are divided by size in this study: larger communities are based on discussing general topics and have weak social ties, whereas small communities are based on discussing specific topics and have strong social ties. The analysis shows that the majority of new words are created/first adopted in larger communities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSocial, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling - 10th International Conference, SBP-BRiMS 2017, Proceedings
EditorsNathaniel Osgood, Dongwon Lee, Robert Thomson, Yu-Ru Lin
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages236-241
Number of pages6
ISBN (Print)9783319602394
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
Event10th International Conference on Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling, SBP-BRiMS 2017 - Washington, United States
Duration: Jul 5 2017Jul 8 2017

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10354 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other10th International Conference on Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling, SBP-BRiMS 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWashington
Period7/5/177/8/17

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Is word adoption a grassroots process? An analysis of Reddit communities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this