Community structure and interaction dynamics through the lens of quotes

TL;DR

This study explores how quotes in online forums reveal community structures and interaction patterns, highlighting their role in navigation and uncovering social dynamics in communities without traditional social network features.

Contribution

It introduces the novel perspective of analyzing quotes to understand community and interaction dynamics in online forums, across different languages and sizes.

Findings

Quote usage is consistent over time and users.

Quotes aid intra-thread navigation.

Quotes reveal hidden social structures.

Abstract

This is the first work investigating community structure and interaction dynamics through the lens of quotes in online discussion forums. We examine four forums of different size, language, and topic. Quote usage, which is surprisingly consistent over time and users, appears to have an important role in aiding intra-thread navigation, and uncovers a hidden "social" structure in communities otherwise lacking all trappings (from friends and followers to reputations) of today's social networks.