title: Evidence of Online Performance Deterioration in User Sessions on Reddit.
abstract: This article presents evidence of performance deterioration in online user sessions quantified by studying a massive dataset containing over 55 million comments posted on Reddit in April 2015. After segmenting the sessions (i.e., periods of activity without a prolonged break) depending on their intensity (i.e., how many posts users produced during sessions), we observe a general decrease in the quality of comments produced by users over the course of sessions. We propose mixed-effects models that capture the impact of session intensity on comments, including their length, quality, and the responses they generate from the community. Our findings suggest performance deterioration: Sessions of increasing intensity are associated with the production of shorter, progressively less complex comments, which receive declining quality scores (as rated by other users), and are less and less engaging (i.e., they attract fewer responses). Our contribution evokes a connection between cognitive and attention dynamics and the usage of online social peer production platforms, specifically the effects of deterioration of user performance.
authors: GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany.|University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany.
authors: Philipp
authors: P
authors: Singer
authors: Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States of America.
authors: Emilio
authors: E
authors: Ferrara
authors: Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States of America.
authors: Farshad
authors: F
authors: Kooti
authors: GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne, Germany.|University of Koblenz-Landau, Koblenz, Germany.
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Strohmaier
authors: Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States of America.
authors: Kristina
authors: K
authors: Lerman
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention; D003071:Cognition; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012107:Research Design; D061108:Social Media; D060756:Social Networking; D012944:Social Support; D012984:Software; D013997:Time Factors; D014584:User-Computer Interface