This paper explores the sense of virtual community (SOVC) on Reddit with two goals: to provide a resource for methodological decisions in Reddit community studies, and to lay the foundation for new research methods and community support tools reflecting users’ experiences of SOVC. The authors interviewed 21 researchers and surveyed 12 subreddits, finding that some research methods can reflect users’ SOVC regardless of the subreddit’s topic or type. They also identified five distinct community archetypes: Topical Q&A, Learning & Perspective Broadening, Social Support, Content Generation, and Affiliation with an Entity. The Community Archetypes framework proposed can guide future research and the creation of community support tools.
Publication date: 4 Oct 2023
Project Page: https://doi.org/XXXXXXX.XXXXXXX
Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.02515
