Subjective versus objective questions: Perception of question subjectivity in social Q&A

Zhe Liu, Bernard J. Jansen

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

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent research has indicated that social networking sites are being adopted as venues for online information-seeking. In order to understand questioner’s intention in social Q&A environments and to better facilitate such behaviors, we define two types of questions: subjective information-seeking questions and objective information seeking ones. To enable automatic detection on question subjectivity, we propose a predictive model that can accurately distinguish between the two classes of questions. By applying the classifier on a larger dataset, we present a comprehensive analysis to compare questions with subjective and objective orientations, in terms of their length, response speed, as well as the characteristics of their respondents. We find that the two types of questions exhibited very different characteristics. Also, we noticed that question subjectivity plays a significant role in attracting responses from strangers. Our results validate the expected benefits of differentiating questions according to their subjectivity orientations, and provide valuable insights for future design and development of tools that can assist the information seeking process under social context.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSocial Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction - 8th International Conference, SBP 2015, Proceedings
EditorsKevin Xu, Nitin Agarwal, Nathaniel Osgood
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages131-140
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9783319162676
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Event8th International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction, SBP 2015 - Washington, United States
Duration: Mar 31 2015Apr 3 2015

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume9021
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other8th International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction, SBP 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWashington
Period3/31/154/3/15

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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