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Investigating Wikipedia: Linguistic corpus building, exploration and analysis
Edited by Céline Poudat, Harald Lüngen and Laura Herzberg
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 121] 2024
► pp. 76–106

Chapter 3
Exploring interactions in Wikipedia talk pages

| University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, CNRS, CLLE,
| Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, BCL,
| University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, CNRS, CLLE,
In this chapter we analyze how users interact on Wikipedia talk pages, focusing on the patterns that emerge from a large corpus of 5 million threads across three languages. These patterns take three simple features into account: who posts, when they post, and after whom they post. We begin with an overview and a closer examination of some extreme behaviours: threads with the highest number of users and posts, or those with the longest duration. We then propose fine-grained typologies to analyze the content of a sample of monologal and trilogal openings. This analysis allows us to identify recurring behaviours, some of which we consider specific to the Wikipedia and its contributors, and others more common in online discussions.
Keywords: Wikipedia talk pages, interaction patterns, monologues, multi-party conversations, online discussions
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.What corpus framework is suitable for exploring Wikipedia Talk Pages?
    • 2.1Wikipedia talk pages
    • 2.2A corpus framework for exploring interactions
  • 3.A coarse-grained view of Wikipedia talks
    • 3.1Talks as sequences
    • 3.2Data overview
    • 3.3A look at extreme behaviors
      • 3.3.1The longest threads
      • 3.3.2The most populated threads
      • 3.3.3The longest-lasting talks
    • 3.4Interaction patterns
  • 4.Case studies: Monologues and trilogues
    • 4.1AA openings and monologues: Are Wikipedia talks really talks?
      • 4.1.1AA openings
      • 4.1.2Long monologues
    • 4.2ABC openings and multiparty conversations
      • 4.2.1Why is C posting a message?
      • 4.2.2Does C align with A and/or B?
  • 5.Discussion
  • Notes
  • References
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