2023:Program/Submissions/Social and Language Influence in Wikipedia Articles for Deletion Debates - EALLKP

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Title: Social and Language Influence in Wikipedia Articles for Deletion Debates

Speakers:

Linda Wang

Linda Wang is a PhD student in Economics at Cornell University. Her research interests include behavioral economics and digitization.

Pretalx link

Etherpad link

Room:

Start time:

End time:

Type: Lecture

Track: Research, Science, and Medicine

Submission state: submitted

Duration: 30 minutes

Do not record: true

Presentation language: en

Abstract & description

Abstract

This session presents a project about user behavior on Articles for Deletion (AfD). Specifically, the project examines the sequences of votes on AfD pages, as well as their rationales in the comments, to better understand the extent to which an individual may conform to the majority within this group decision-making context.

Description

Today, digital platforms are integral for group decision-making. This is especially evident on Wikipedia, where the curation of over six million articles involves substantial discussion and debate between users across the site. In such a setting, textual features can be especially salient, but imperfect, signals of a given comment’s credibility. One question that arises, then, is how strongly do these features influence the likelihood of an individual user conforming to majority opinion? Furthermore, is that influence exacerbated by topic or user features, like gender?

The nature and structure of the AfD pages form a good starting point to answer these questions. The session will provide an outline of the research methodology, which includes tools from economics and natural language processing, and an overview of preliminary findings. As the project is a work-in-progress, attendees are encouraged to share their experiences, thoughts and suggestions.

Further details

Qn. How does your session relate to the event themes: Diversity, Collaboration Future?

The topic of the session covers structural and linguistic features that may contribute to herding-like behavior on AfD. An increased awareness of this topic may assist voices that are under-represented in debates, which supports the theme of Diversity. Additionally, the session is strongly related to the theme of Collaboration, as it welcomes feedback and discussion from the attendees to help develop a work-in-progress.

Qn. What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?

Everyone can participate in this session

Qn. What is the most appropriate format for this session?

• Onsite in Singapore
• Remote online participation, livestreamed
• Remote from a satellite event
• Hybrid with some participants in Singapore and others dialing in remotely
• Pre-recorded and available on demand