Analyzing the Social Dynamics of Reddit
Required Availability
Fall 2022Course Credit?
NoPaid Position?
NoPreferred Majors
Communication & Info Sciences | Communication Information Sci | Communication Studies | Computer Science | Data Processing | Psychology | Quantitative ResearchFaculty
Elliot PanekKeywords
social networks | media | machine learning | Communication | mediated communication | data | coding | computational methods | python | computer science | Technology | programming | Database | Coding | Programming | technology | Social Media Applications (Apps) | scripting | social mediaDescription
We are looking for curious, hard-working researchers to help us with an exciting project: analyzing comments posted on the social news and online community Reddit. We have a massive data set containing over 100 million comments made by Reddit users from 2007 to 2022. Our research team has published work with undergraduate researchers as co-authors in top-tier scholarly journals (e.g., Social Media + Society) and presented work at international conferences (e.g., the 2022 International Communication Association conference in Paris). You can see some of what we've been working on here: https://arrg.ua.edu/ . For this project, I am mostly interested in how different community moderation policies (e.g., hiding vote scores, or only allowing certain users to comment) affect subreddits over time, and what these findings might teach us about the future of social media content moderation.
Special Directions
Please attach a CV and a brief statement (3-5 sentences) about why you are interested in this project. If you have any relevant projects relating to social media, data analysis, and/or programming, you may also attach them.
Special Skills
Having some experience and skills in coding (e.g., Python). It is not necessary to be an advanced programmer - many of our research assistants use our research as a way to hone their skills. You do not have to be familiar with Reddit (though it would help); as long as you are curious about social media and the internet, you can help us with our work!