Constructing a Dataset to Support Agent-Based Modeling of Online Interactions: Users, Topics, and Interaction Networks

TL;DR

This paper presents a large, empirically grounded Reddit dataset designed to support agent-based modeling of online social interactions, enabling more realistic simulations and validation against real-world data.

Contribution

The authors constructed a comprehensive Reddit dataset with agent categories, interaction networks, and behavioral patterns to improve the realism of agent-based social simulations.

Findings

Topic-dependent interaction patterns identified

Climate discussions show dense networks

COVID interactions are sparse and directional

Abstract

Agent-based modeling (ABM) provides a powerful framework for exploring how individual behaviors and interactions give rise to collective social dynamics. However, most ABMs rely on handcrafted or parameterized agent rules that are not empirically grounded, thereby limiting their realism and validation against observed data. To address this gap, we constructed a large-scale, empirically grounded dataset from Reddit to support the development and evaluation of agent-based social simulations. The dataset includes 33 technology-focused, 14 climate-focused, and 7 COVID-related aggregated agents, encompassing around one million posts and comments. Using publicly available posts and comments, we define agent categories based on content and interaction patterns, derive inter-agent relationships from temporal commenting behaviors, and build a directed, weighted network that reflects empirically observed user connections. The resulting dataset enables researchers to calibrate and benchmark agent behavior, network structure, and information diffusion processes against real social dynamics. Our quantitative analysis reveals clear topic-dependent differences in how users interact. Climate discussions show dense, highly connected networks with sustained engagement, COVID-related interactions are sparse and mostly one-directional, and technology discussions are organized around a small number of central hubs. Manual qualitative analysis further shows that agent interactions follow realistic patterns of timing, similarity between users, and sentiment change.