Exploration of Networks
Reddit Communities Field Experiment
2025-03-04
Helpful resource for network visualization in R: https://mr.schochastics.net/
library(tidyverse)
library(readr)
library(gridExtra)
library(haven)
library(RColorBrewer)
library(igraph)
library(tidygraph)
library(ggraph)
library(stringr)
library(kableExtra)# reddit data
discussion_data <- read_csv("../data/anon/discussions_anon.csv")
# preprocessed survey data
sample <- read_csv("../data/anon/scaled_sample.csv")
# full data
full_data <- read_csv("../data/anon/full_data_waves.csv")Toxicity comment graphs
subreddits <- c("DiscussPolitics1", "DiscussPolitics2", "DiscussPolitics3",
"DiscussPolitics4", "DiscussPolitics5", "DiscussPolitics6")
plots <- list()
for (i in seq_along(subreddits)) {
subreddit_name <- subreddits[i]
edge_list <- discussion_data %>%
filter(subreddit == subreddit_name) %>%
mutate(to = comment_id,
from = parent_id) %>%
select(from, to) %>%
na.omit()
tidy_g <- as_tbl_graph(edge_list, directed = TRUE)
note_attributes <- discussion_data %>%
mutate(name = comment_id,
type = ifelse(str_detect(parent_id, "t3_"), "post", "comment")) %>%
select(name, comment_toxicity, length_comment_char, type)
tidy_g <- tidy_g %>%
left_join(., note_attributes, by = "name")
comment_graph <- ggraph(tidy_g, "tree") +
geom_edge_link0(alpha = 0.2) +
geom_node_point(shape = 21, aes(fill = comment_toxicity, size = length_comment_char), alpha = 0.8) +
guides(alpha = "none", edge_alpha = "none",
fill = guide_legend(title = "Toxicity"),
size = guide_legend(title = "Length")) +
scale_fill_gradient(low = "#6699ff", high = "#bc3455", limits = c(0, 0.6)) +
scale_size(range = c(2, 6)) +
theme_void() +
ggtitle(subreddit_name)
plots[[i]] <- comment_graph
}
combined_plot <- grid.arrange(grobs = plots, ncol = 2, nrow = 3)
ggsave("../output/comment_graphs_combined.pdf", combined_plot, width = 20, height = 20)User Interaction Network
plots <- list()
for (i in seq_along(subreddits)) {
subreddit_name <- subreddits[i]
user_edge_list <- discussion_data %>%
filter(subreddit == subreddit_name) %>%
# 'from' as the user who made the parent comment and 'to' as the user who replied
mutate(to = ParticipantID,
from = discussion_data$ParticipantID[match(parent_id, discussion_data$comment_id)]) %>%
select(from, to) %>%
na.omit() # remove NA where parent_id does not match
# get all users who participated in the discussion (even without replies)
all_users <- discussion_data %>%
filter(subreddit == subreddit_name) %>%
select(ParticipantID) %>%
distinct() %>%
rename(name = ParticipantID)
user_tidy_g <- as_tbl_graph(user_edge_list, directed = TRUE) %>%
activate(nodes) %>%
# add all users to ensure isolated nodes are included
full_join(all_users, by = "name")
user_attributes <- discussion_data %>%
group_by(ParticipantID) %>%
summarize(comment_count = n(),
avg_toxicity = mean(comment_toxicity, na.rm = TRUE)) %>%
mutate(name = ParticipantID)
user_tidy_g <- user_tidy_g %>%
left_join(., user_attributes, by = "name")
user_graph <- ggraph(user_tidy_g, layout = "fr") + # Fruchterman-Reingold layout
geom_edge_link0(alpha = 0.2) +
geom_node_point(shape = 21, aes(fill = avg_toxicity, size = comment_count),alpha = 0.8) +
guides(alpha = "none", edge_alpha = "none",
fill = guide_legend(title = "Avg Toxicity"),
size = guide_legend(title = "Comment Count")) +
scale_fill_gradient(low = "#6699ff", high = "#bc3455", limits = c(0, 0.5)) +
scale_size(range = c(2, 6)) +
theme_void() +
ggtitle(paste("User Interaction Network -", subreddit_name))
plots[[i]] <- user_graph
}
combined_plot <- grid.arrange(grobs = plots, ncol = 2, nrow = 3)
ggsave("../output/user_interaction_graphs_combined.pdf", combined_plot, width = 20, height = 20)Degree distributions
degree_plots <- list()
for (subreddit_name in subreddits) {
user_edge_list <- discussion_data %>%
filter(subreddit == subreddit_name) %>%
mutate(to = ParticipantID,
from = discussion_data$ParticipantID[match(parent_id, discussion_data$comment_id)]) %>%
select(from, to) %>%
na.omit() # Remove rows where parent_id does not match
user_tidy_g <- as_tbl_graph(user_edge_list, directed = TRUE)
degree_data <- user_tidy_g %>%
mutate(in_degree = centrality_degree(mode = "in"),
out_degree = centrality_degree(mode = "out")) %>%
as_tibble()
degree_plot <- ggplot(degree_data, aes(x = in_degree, fill = "In-Degree")) +
geom_histogram(alpha = 0.6, position = "identity", bins = 30) +
geom_histogram(aes(x = out_degree, fill = "Out-Degree"), alpha = 0.6, position = "identity", bins = 30) +
scale_fill_manual(values = c("In-Degree" = "#6699ff", "Out-Degree" = "#bc3455")) +
labs(title = paste("Degree Centrality Distribution -", subreddit_name),
x = "Degree Centrality",
y = "Count",
fill = "Degree Type") +
theme_bw()
degree_plots[[subreddit_name]] <- degree_plot
}
combined_plot <- grid.arrange(grobs = degree_plots, nrow = 3, ncol = 2)
ggsave("../output/combined_degree_centrality_distribution.pdf", combined_plot, width = 15, height = 15)Differences in degree distributions?
Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) Test
non-parametric test that compares two distributions and determines whether they come from the same distribution.
Test Metrics: 1. D-statistic: Maximum difference between the empirical distributions (cumulative distribution functions). 2. P-value: Probability of observing the D-statistic under the null hypothesis that the two distributions are the same. 3. ECDFs: Cumulative probability of the data points in each sample.
# Define subreddit conditions
control_subreddits <- c("DiscussPolitics1", "DiscussPolitics6")
moderation_subreddits <- c("DiscussPolitics2", "DiscussPolitics5")
incentives_subreddits <- c("DiscussPolitics3", "DiscussPolitics4")
combined_degree_data <- data.frame()
for (subreddit_name in subreddits) {
user_edge_list <- discussion_data %>%
filter(subreddit == subreddit_name) %>%
mutate(to = ParticipantID,
from = discussion_data$ParticipantID[match(parent_id, discussion_data$comment_id)]) %>%
select(from, to) %>%
na.omit()
user_tidy_g <- as_tbl_graph(user_edge_list, directed = TRUE)
degree_data <- user_tidy_g %>%
mutate(in_degree = centrality_degree(mode = "in"),
out_degree = centrality_degree(mode = "out")) %>%
as_tibble() %>%
mutate(subreddit = subreddit_name,
condition = case_when(
subreddit_name %in% control_subreddits ~ "control",
subreddit_name %in% moderation_subreddits ~ "moderation",
subreddit_name %in% incentives_subreddits ~ "incentives"
))
combined_degree_data <- rbind(combined_degree_data, degree_data)
}
# KS test for pairwise comparisons between conditions
perform_ks_test <- function(degree_data, centrality_type) {
control_data <- degree_data %>% filter(condition == "control") %>% pull(!!centrality_type)
moderation_data <- degree_data %>% filter(condition == "moderation") %>% pull(!!centrality_type)
incentives_data <- degree_data %>% filter(condition == "incentives") %>% pull(!!centrality_type)
ks_tests <- list(
control_vs_moderation = ks.test(control_data, moderation_data),
control_vs_incentives = ks.test(control_data, incentives_data),
moderation_vs_incentives = ks.test(moderation_data, incentives_data)
)
results <- lapply(ks_tests, function(test) {
data.frame(
Comparison = names(test),
D_statistic = test$statistic,
P_value = round(test$p.value, 4),
Centrality_Type = centrality_type
)
})
do.call(rbind, results)
}
ks_in_degree <- perform_ks_test(combined_degree_data, "in_degree")
ks_out_degree <- perform_ks_test(combined_degree_data, "out_degree")
ks_results <- rbind(ks_in_degree, ks_out_degree)%>%
select(-Comparison) %>%
distinct()
html_table <- ks_results %>%
kbl(caption = "Pairwise KS Test Results for Degree Centrality Distributions") %>%
kable_styling(full_width = F, bootstrap_options = c( "hover", "condensed"))
html_table| D_statistic | P_value | Centrality_Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| control_vs_moderation.1 | 0.0943396 | 0.7611 | in_degree |
| control_vs_incentives.1 | 0.1003080 | 0.6848 | in_degree |
| moderation_vs_incentives.1 | 0.0973639 | 0.5623 | in_degree |
| control_vs_moderation.11 | 0.0536557 | 0.9987 | out_degree |
| control_vs_incentives.11 | 0.0889488 | 0.8152 | out_degree |
| moderation_vs_incentives.11 | 0.0946003 | 0.5689 | out_degree |
save_kable(html_table, file = "../output/ks_test_results.html")Degree centrality and toxicity
combined_degree_data <- combined_degree_data%>%
mutate(ParticipantID = name)
data <- full_data%>%
left_join(., combined_degree_data, by = "ParticipantID")
indegree <- ggplot(data, aes(in_degree, comment_mean_tox, color = comment_mean_tox))+
geom_point(aes(fill = comment_mean_tox, size = 2, alpha = 0.5 ))+
scale_color_gradient(low = "#6699ff", high = "#bc3455", limits = c(0, 0.6)) +
theme_bw()+
geom_smooth(method = loess, alpha = 0.1, color = "darkgrey")+
ylab("User level average comment toxicity")+
xlab("User reply network in-degree")+
ggtitle("Toxicity by In-Degree")+
guides(size = "none", alpha = "none", fill = "none", color = "none")
outdegree <- ggplot(data, aes(out_degree, comment_mean_tox, color = comment_mean_tox))+
geom_point(aes(fill = comment_mean_tox, size = 2, alpha = 0.5 ))+
scale_color_gradient(low = "#6699ff", high = "#bc3455", limits = c(0, 0.6)) +
theme_bw()+
geom_smooth(method = loess, alpha = 0.1, color = "darkgrey")+
ylab("User level average comment toxicity")+
xlab("User reply network out-degree")+
ggtitle("Toxicity by Out-Degree")+
guides(size = "none", alpha = "none", fill = "none",
color = guide_legend(title="Toxicity"))
degrees <- grid.arrange(indegree, outdegree, nrow = 1, widths = c(4,5))
ggsave("../output/toxicity_degree.pdf", plot = degrees, width = 10, height = 5)
Comment Graphs conditions