Visualizing "Answer People" In Online Discussions

Marc Smith writes "'Answer people,' the folks who contribute much of the value in the Internet, are a small minority of all online users. According to a recent paper my co-authors and I have published in the Journal of Social Structure, less than 2% of authors in Usenet newsgroups are likely to be the helpful 'answer person' type — authors who reply to many other people with brief replies. The paper Visualizing the Signatures of Social Roles in Online Discussion Groups contains social network visualizations of the ties created when authors reply to one another. These images highlight the difference between these helpful folks and other types of contributors. The findings may apply to other threaded discussions, maybe even here at Slashdot."

Comments

Thoughtul answers vs. clever put-downs

[erc]

Most of the people on Slashdot are emotional juveniles who think that a clever put-down instead of a thoughtful answer is applauded, when in fact the applause is only coming from their peers - more emotional juveniles. Emotionally mature people shun such nonsense, preferring honest, thoughtful, intelligent answers.

90% of the replies to this post will no doubt prove my point.