Led it on Reddit: An Exploratory Study Examining Factors of Opinion Leadership on Reddit

• In Event: Social Influence in Social Media

Abstract

This study offers an exploratory examination of online opinion leadership in Reddit. Unlike other social networking sites, Reddit provides a space for semi-anonymous posting and commenting, in which the only identifiable user traits are karma, a reputation score based on posting and commenting, and length of time on the site. Both posts and comments can be identified by a netvote, which reflects the number of upvotes and downvotes a contribution receives from readers. This study examines posts and comments of political subreddits with large and medium readership status. Highly voted posts generate more top-level and total comments, and a small percentage of highly active posters engage in conversations by posting and commenting. This study also finds that karma plays a significant role in predicting high levels of posting or commenting, while longevity does not. Implications of these findings and theoretical considerations are discussed.

Authors

• Joseph Jai-sung Yoo, The University of Texas

• Danielle Kathleen Kilgo, University of Texas

• Thomas Johnson, U of Texas - Austin

• Melissa Suran, The University of Texas at Austin

• Vinicio Sinta, University of Texas at Austin

• Ben S. Wasike, U of Texas - Brownsville

• Hyeri Jung, The University of Texas at Austin

• Shuning Lu, University of Texas at Austin