Behind the Screens: Bridging the Gap Between Content Creation and Community Connection

Online discourse thrives when we are aware of unique community values and put this knowledge into practice.

The linguist Paul Grice is perhaps best known for proposing that people cooperate in conversation by following four maxims: share the right amount of information, share truthful information, share relevant information, and share information clearly. While netizens typically agree that internet culture benefits from respectful, cooperative conversation, the meaning of “cooperative conversation” can differ depending on whether you are conversing on BuzzFeed, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Reddit. Some guidelines for cooperative communication may be universally applied, but—just like people—many communities could benefit from a more individualized approach based on their values.

THE RESEARCH

In 2024, researchers Galen Weld, Amy X. Zhang, and Tim Althoff published their paper “Making Online Communities ‘Better’: A Taxonomy of Community Values on Reddit,” in which they surveyed 212 Reddit users from over 600 unique subreddits to investigate values in subreddit communities. Using a Qualtrics survey, the researchers recruited participants primarily through the purchase of Reddit advertisements. Some of the survey questions related to user demographics, usage of Reddit, and interactions in subreddits. From these survey questions, Weld and team determined categories of redditors’ values, such as quality of content, community engagement, community size, participation and inclusion, diversity, moderation and moderators, and community norms.

The researchers found that a “universally disliked” behavior in subreddits was spamming and reposting questions that were unrelated or redundant. Another behavior that was complained of was that some posts were offensive or included harassing content and behavior; the lack of such comments in subreddits was particularly praised. The presence of these behaviors was reported to be “detrimental to inclusion” and the formation of close-knit subreddit communities. Survey participants also often expressed a desire for more diversity in the subreddit communities, both in membership and content. Participants hoped for diversity so that relevant content would be more entertaining, informative, and inclusive. 

THE IMPLICATIONS

These results indicate what users prioritize in their communities, revealing how online discourse can thrive or wither depending on the way you engage. We learn from this study that brevity is a crucial tool in positive community interactions. Grice’s conversational maxims similarly teach us to share the right amount of information. Thus, it’s important to keep messages and posts snappy and to-the-point to avoid aggravating your online audience.

And while it may seem like an obvious concept, exclusivity does not support a healthy community. Grice’s maxims do not address exclusivity directly; however, they can still apply. His maxims teach us to share truthful information, and the truth is that we need to share information in a kind way. Thus it’s important to communicate what needs to be said, but in a way that promotes inclusion.

Moderators fulfill a vital position as they ensure unwanted behaviors do not proliferate among users, though individuals are also responsible for keeping their own interactions concise, wholesome, and hate-free. Moderators can help their communities steer clear of harassment and hate speech, which is a major hindrance to community cohesiveness.

Moderators can also help foster diversity—a critical aspect of community interaction—both in terms of user base and circulated media. Community members can also encourage this directly as they support other community members with comments and upvotes.

In general, we can all lean into concision, inclusivity, and diversity as we scroll and share. By building these habits, we can ensure a positive community experience for ourselves and others. These dedicated efforts, along with observing unique community priorities on different platforms we use, will help us construct tighter-knit communities as spaces to learn and grow in the digital world.

To learn more about online community values, read the full article:

Weld, Galen, Amy X. Zhang, and Tim Althoff. 2024. “Making Online Communities ‘Better’: A Taxonomy of Community Values on Reddit”. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media 18 (1):1611-33. https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v18i1.31413.

— Adriana Christ, Makayla Erickson, Elise Green, Emma Jean Nelson, Netiquette

FEATURE IMAGE BY KEIRA BURTON

Find more research

To learn more about the effects of Reddit community culture, check out Lutgardis Oddný, Cecilia Ainslie, Solly Lakshman, and Dina Nathan’s article, “Impact of Reddit Community Culture on User Attitude Expression and Social Interaction.”

Curious about community values across cultures? Check out Rakhshi Memon et al.’s study, “Recognising values and engaging communities across cultures: towards developing a cultural protocol for researchers.”