IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/phsmap/v390y2011i16p2936-2944.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Negative emotions boost user activity at BBC forum

Author

Listed:
  • Chmiel, Anna
  • Sobkowicz, Pawel
  • Sienkiewicz, Julian
  • Paltoglou, Georgios
  • Buckley, Kevan
  • Thelwall, Mike
  • Hołyst, Janusz A.

Abstract

We present an empirical study of user activity in online BBC discussion forums, measured by the number of posts written by individual debaters and the average sentiment of these posts. Nearly 2.5 million posts from over 18 thousand users were investigated. Scale-free distributions were observed for activity in individual discussion threads as well as for overall activity. The number of unique users in a thread normalized by the thread length decays with thread length, suggesting that thread life is sustained by mutual discussions rather than by independent comments. Automatic sentiment analysis shows that most posts contain negative emotions and the most active users in individual threads express predominantly negative sentiments. It follows that the average emotion of longer threads is more negative and that threads can be sustained by negative comments. An agent-based computer simulation model has been used to reproduce several essential characteristics of the analyzed system. The model stresses the role of discussions between users, especially emotionally laden quarrels between supporters of opposite opinions, and represents many observed statistics of the forum.

Suggested Citation

  • Chmiel, Anna & Sobkowicz, Pawel & Sienkiewicz, Julian & Paltoglou, Georgios & Buckley, Kevan & Thelwall, Mike & Hołyst, Janusz A., 2011. "Negative emotions boost user activity at BBC forum," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(16), pages 2936-2944.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:390:y:2011:i:16:p:2936-2944
    DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2011.03.040
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378437111002731
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only. Journal offers the option of making the article available online on Science direct for a fee of $3,000
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.physa.2011.03.040?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Mitrović & B. Tadić, 2010. "Bloggers behavior and emergent communities in Blog space," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 73(2), pages 293-301, January.
    2. Mike Thelwall & David Wilkinson & Sukhvinder Uppal, 2010. "Data mining emotion in social network communication: Gender differences in MySpace," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(1), pages 190-199, January.
    3. F. Schweitzer & D. Garcia, 2010. "An agent-based model of collective emotions in online communities," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 77(4), pages 533-545, October.
    4. M. Mitrović & G. Paltoglou & B. Tadić, 2010. "Networks and emotion-driven user communities at popular blogs," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 77(4), pages 597-609, October.
    5. Prabowo, Rudy & Thelwall, Mike, 2009. "Sentiment analysis: A combined approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 143-157.
    6. Siegel, Jane & Dubrovsky, Vitaly & Kiesler, Sara & McGuire, Timothy W., 1986. "Group processes in computer-mediated communication," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 157-187, April.
    7. P. Sobkowicz & A. Sobkowicz, 2010. "Dynamics of hate based Internet user networks," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 73(4), pages 633-643, February.
    8. Mike Thelwall & David Wilkinson & Sukhvinder Uppal, 2010. "Data mining emotion in social network communication: Gender differences in MySpace," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(1), pages 190-199, January.
    9. Albert-László Barabási, 2005. "The origin of bursts and heavy tails in human dynamics," Nature, Nature, vol. 435(7039), pages 207-211, May.
    10. F. Ding & Y. Liu, 2010. "Modeling opinion interactions in a BBS community," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 78(2), pages 245-252, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fan, Rui & Xu, Ke & Zhao, Jichang, 2018. "An agent-based model for emotion contagion and competition in online social media," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 495(C), pages 245-259.
    2. Gregg, Rebecca & Patel, Ajay & Patel, Sumaiya & O’Connor, Laura, 2017. "Public reaction to the UK government strategy on childhood obesity in England: A qualitative and quantitative summary of online reaction to media reports," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(4), pages 450-457.
    3. Chołoniewski, Jan & Chmiel, Anna & Sienkiewicz, Julian & Hołyst, Janusz A. & Küster, Dennis & Kappas, Arvid, 2016. "Temporal Taylor’s scaling of facial electromyography and electrodermal activity in the course of emotional stimulation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 91-100.
    4. Fan, Kangqi & Pedrycz, Witold, 2017. "Evolution of public opinions in closed societies influenced by broadcast media," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 472(C), pages 53-66.
    5. Irina Evgenievna Kalabikhina & Evgeniy Petrovich Banin & Imiliya Abduselimovna Abduselimova & German Andreevich Klimenko & Anton Vasilyevich Kolotusha, 2021. "The Measurement of Demographic Temperature Using the Sentiment Analysis of Data from the Social Network VKontakte," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-25, April.
    6. Anna Chmiel & Julian Sienkiewicz & Mike Thelwall & Georgios Paltoglou & Kevan Buckley & Arvid Kappas & Janusz A Hołyst, 2011. "Collective Emotions Online and Their Influence on Community Life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-8, July.
    7. Bing Wu & Shan Jiang & Hsinchun Chen, 2015. "The impact of individual attributes on knowledge diffusion in web forums," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 2221-2236, November.
    8. Fan, Kangqi & Pedrycz, Witold, 2016. "Opinion evolution influenced by informed agents," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 462(C), pages 431-441.
    9. Fan, Kangqi & Pedrycz, Witold, 2015. "Emergence and spread of extremist opinions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 436(C), pages 87-97.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. F. Schweitzer & D. Garcia, 2010. "An agent-based model of collective emotions in online communities," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 77(4), pages 533-545, October.
    2. Anna Chmiel & Julian Sienkiewicz & Mike Thelwall & Georgios Paltoglou & Kevan Buckley & Arvid Kappas & Janusz A Hołyst, 2011. "Collective Emotions Online and Their Influence on Community Life," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-8, July.
    3. Fan, Rui & Xu, Ke & Zhao, Jichang, 2018. "An agent-based model for emotion contagion and competition in online social media," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 495(C), pages 245-259.
    4. Julia Neidhardt & Nataliia Rümmele & Hannes Werthner, 0. "Predicting happiness: user interactions and sentiment analysis in an online travel forum," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-19.
    5. Julia Neidhardt & Nataliia Rümmele & Hannes Werthner, 2017. "Predicting happiness: user interactions and sentiment analysis in an online travel forum," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 101-119, March.
    6. Mitrović, Marija & Tadić, Bosiljka, 2012. "Dynamics of bloggers’ communities: Bipartite networks from empirical data and agent-based modeling," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 391(21), pages 5264-5278.
    7. Tian Tian & Stijn Speelman, 2021. "Pursuing Development behind Heterogeneous Ideologies: Review of Six Evolving Themes and Narratives of Rural Planning in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Jacqueline Ng Lane & Bruce Ankenman & Seyed Iravani, 2018. "Insight into Gender Differences in Higher Education: Evidence from Peer Reviews in an Introductory STEM Course," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 442-456, December.
    9. Setten, Eric & Chen, Steven, 2024. "Playing with emotions: Text analysis of emotional tones in gender-casted Children’s media," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    10. Yulei Gavin Zhang & Mandy Yan Dang & Hsinchun Chen, 2020. "An Explorative Study on the Virtual World: Investigating the Avatar Gender and Avatar Age Differences in their Social Interactions for Help-Seeking," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 911-925, August.
    11. Liwen Vaughan, 2016. "Uncovering information from social media hyperlinks: An investigation of twitter," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 67(5), pages 1105-1120, May.
    12. Avi Rosenfeld & Sigal Sina & David Sarne & Or Avidov & Sarit Kraus, 2018. "WhatsApp usage patterns and prediction of demographic characteristics without access to message content," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(22), pages 647-670.
    13. Chen, Aihui & Lu, Yaobin & Wang, Bin & Zhao, Ling & Li, Ming, 2013. "What drives content creation behavior on SNSs? A commitment perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2529-2535.
    14. Li, Xianghua & Wang, Zhen & Gao, Chao & Shi, Lei, 2017. "Reasoning human emotional responses from large-scale social and public media," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 310(C), pages 182-193.
    15. Anupriya Khan & Satish Krishnan & Jithesh Arayankalam, 2022. "The Role of ICT Laws and National Culture in Determining ICT Diffusion and Well-Being: A Cross-Country Examination," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 415-440, April.
    16. Ibtesam AbdulAziz Bajri & Nada Abdulmajeed Lashkar, 2020. "Saudi Gender Emotional Expressions in Using Instagram," English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(5), pages 1-94, May.
    17. Roser Beneito-Montagut, 2017. "Emotions, Everyday Life, and the Social Web: Age, Gender, and Social Web Engagement Effects on Online Emotional Expression," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 22(4), pages 87-104, December.
    18. Anzhi Sheng & Qi Su & Aming Li & Long Wang & Joshua B. Plotkin, 2023. "Constructing temporal networks with bursty activity patterns," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    19. He, Yifan & Zhao, Chen & Zeng, An, 2022. "Ranking locations in a city via the collective home-work relations in human mobility data," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 608(P1).
    20. Lu, Xi & Mo, Hongming & Deng, Yong, 2015. "An evidential opinion dynamics model based on heterogeneous social influential power," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 98-107.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:390:y:2011:i:16:p:2936-2944. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/physica-a-statistical-mechpplications/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.