Warranted Assertibility and the Internet: A Theoretical Model for an Online Proto-Research Community

• In Event: Research Use SIG Poster Gallery

Abstract

In this paper, we suggest that research platforms on the present Internet should offer diverse pathways for distributed communication, to cope a post-truth society. Present platforms adhere to a first-order cybernetic approach, using rule-based systems and algorithms to guide the activity of researchers, and expose them to new work based on their preferences. The larger Internet, however, supports communities like Reddit, that offer opportunities for pragmatic problem-solving that mirrors the ideas of second-order cybernetics, but show much potential for incivility. By analyzing 704 comments from the CoronavirusUS subreddit, we suggest that a substantial percentage of posts in the subreddit display higher-order reflectivity (what we label transformative critical reflection) which predicts upvotes received by these posts. We found that karma, or user reputation, is not predicted by interaction between high-order reflectivity and upvotes. This suggests posts are gauged by quality rather than users’ reputations. We infer such communication can be mirrored in online proto-research communities, and streamlined by laying down regulations, appointing moderators, and using algorithms to guide distributed communication, and combat the propensity for chaos arising from emancipation. We lay out our design/vision for such a community, based on a dual-layered reformulation of the Open Source Educative Processes framework.

Authors

• Shantanu Tilak, The Ohio State University

• Michael Glassman, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Irina Kuznetcova, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Ziye Wen, The Ohio State University

• Logan Pelfrey, The Ohio State University

• Marvin Evans, The Ohio State University - Columbus