WikiReddit: Tracing Information and Attention Flows Between Online Platforms

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive multilingual dataset linking Reddit discussions to Wikipedia mentions from 2020 to 2023, enabling analysis of information and attention flows across these platforms.

Contribution

It provides a novel, enriched dataset capturing cross-platform mentions and links, facilitating research on information circulation and influence between Reddit and Wikipedia.

Findings

Reddit discussions significantly influence Wikipedia content updates.

The dataset enables detailed analysis of information flow patterns.

Wikipedia links in Reddit posts reflect deliberation and fact-checking behaviors.

Abstract

The World Wide Web is a complex interconnected digital ecosystem, where information and attention flow between platforms and communities throughout the globe. These interactions co-construct how we understand the world, reflecting and shaping public discourse. Unfortunately, researchers often struggle to understand how information circulates and evolves across the web because platform-specific data is often siloed and restricted by linguistic barriers. To address this gap, we present a comprehensive, multilingual dataset capturing all Wikipedia mentions and links shared in posts and comments on Reddit 2020-2023, excluding those from private and NSFW subreddits. Each linked Wikipedia article is enriched with revision history, page view data, article ID, redirects, and Wikidata identifiers. Through a research agreement with Reddit, our dataset ensures user privacy while providing a query and ID mechanism that integrates with the Reddit and Wikipedia APIs. This enables extended analyses for researchers studying how information flows across platforms. For example, Reddit discussions use Wikipedia for deliberation and fact-checking which subsequently influences Wikipedia content, by driving traffic to articles or inspiring edits. By analyzing the relationship between information shared and discussed on these platforms, our dataset provides a foundation for examining the interplay between social media discourse and collaborative knowledge consumption and production.