Catalysts of Conversation: Examining Interaction Dynamics Between Topic Initiators and Commentors in Alzheimer's Disease Online Communities

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Ni, Congning, Chen, Qingxia, Song, Lijun, Commiskey, Patricia, Song, Qingyuan, Malin, Bradley A., Yin, Zhijun
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Ni, Congning
Chen, Qingxia
Song, Lijun
Commiskey, Patricia
Song, Qingyuan
Malin, Bradley A.
Yin, Zhijun
author_facet Ni, Congning
Chen, Qingxia
Song, Lijun
Commiskey, Patricia
Song, Qingyuan
Malin, Bradley A.
Yin, Zhijun
contents Informal caregivers (e.g.,family members or friends) of people living with Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) face substantial challenges and often seek informational or emotional support through online communities. Understanding the factors that drive engagement within these platforms is crucial, as it can enhance their long-term value for caregivers by ensuring that these communities effectively meet their needs. This study investigated the user interaction dynamics within two large, popular ADRD communities, TalkingPoint and ALZConnected, focusing on topic initiator engagement, initial post content, and the linguistic patterns of comments at the thread level. Using analytical methods such as propensity score matching, topic modeling, and predictive modeling, we found that active topic initiator engagement drives higher comment volumes, and reciprocal replies from topic initiators encourage further commentor engagement at the community level. Practical caregiving topics prompt more re-engagement of topic initiators, while emotional support topics attract more comments from other commentors. Additionally, the linguistic complexity and emotional tone of a comment influence its likelihood of receiving replies from topic initiators. These findings highlight the importance of fostering active and reciprocal engagement and providing effective strategies to enhance sustainability in ADRD caregiving and broader health-related online communities.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_13388
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Catalysts of Conversation: Examining Interaction Dynamics Between Topic Initiators and Commentors in Alzheimer's Disease Online Communities
Ni, Congning
Chen, Qingxia
Song, Lijun
Commiskey, Patricia
Song, Qingyuan
Malin, Bradley A.
Yin, Zhijun
Computers and Society
Computation and Language
Machine Learning
Applications
Informal caregivers (e.g.,family members or friends) of people living with Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) face substantial challenges and often seek informational or emotional support through online communities. Understanding the factors that drive engagement within these platforms is crucial, as it can enhance their long-term value for caregivers by ensuring that these communities effectively meet their needs. This study investigated the user interaction dynamics within two large, popular ADRD communities, TalkingPoint and ALZConnected, focusing on topic initiator engagement, initial post content, and the linguistic patterns of comments at the thread level. Using analytical methods such as propensity score matching, topic modeling, and predictive modeling, we found that active topic initiator engagement drives higher comment volumes, and reciprocal replies from topic initiators encourage further commentor engagement at the community level. Practical caregiving topics prompt more re-engagement of topic initiators, while emotional support topics attract more comments from other commentors. Additionally, the linguistic complexity and emotional tone of a comment influence its likelihood of receiving replies from topic initiators. These findings highlight the importance of fostering active and reciprocal engagement and providing effective strategies to enhance sustainability in ADRD caregiving and broader health-related online communities.
title Catalysts of Conversation: Examining Interaction Dynamics Between Topic Initiators and Commentors in Alzheimer's Disease Online Communities
topic Computers and Society
Computation and Language
Machine Learning
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.13388