Here is a short comment:
The summary, which you did read, uses the word brief. The research paper (which you might not have actually read) does not measure comment length. It does measure # of messages in threads, and whether a person replies to others or initiates, as well as patterns in network ties. Those attributes predict answering behavior. But you bring up a good point. The length of a post does not necessarily have anything to do with its quality or insightfullness.
That is true, that is why the article describes people as playing the "social role" of answer person, not that they *have* a "personality type" of answer person. Also, if you look at the last plot, you can see that people are measured as playing roles a proportion of the time. Many folks in the kites group in particular are primarily playing a role of discussion person, but at times play an answer person role. So it makes sense that people will, vary from place to place and time to time.
Slashdot Mirror
Here is a short comment: The summary, which you did read, uses the word brief. The research paper (which you might not have actually read) does not measure comment length. It does measure # of messages in threads, and whether a person replies to others or initiates, as well as patterns in network ties. Those attributes predict answering behavior. But you bring up a good point. The length of a post does not necessarily have anything to do with its quality or insightfullness.
That is true, that is why the article describes people as playing the "social role" of answer person, not that they *have* a "personality type" of answer person. Also, if you look at the last plot, you can see that people are measured as playing roles a proportion of the time. Many folks in the kites group in particular are primarily playing a role of discussion person, but at times play an answer person role. So it makes sense that people will, vary from place to place and time to time.