Science AMA Series: We created a map of reddit to make it easier for you
to discover new communities. We are Drs. Zachary Neal and Randy Olson
from Michigan State University, Ask Us Anything!
Abstract
Prof. Zachary Neal: I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Global
Urban Studies at Michigan State University and a Nonresident Senior
Fellow at the Brookings Institution. My research uses networks to
understand urban and community phenomena at multiple scales ranging from
the micro (e.g. neighborhood social networks) to the macro (e.g. global
transportation infrastructure), and involves the development of new
network analysis methods with a particular focus on bipartite
projections (e.g. viewing subreddits as linked by users co-posting
behaviors). I also serve as editor of the Journal of Urban Affairs and
Routledge’s Metropolis and Modern Life book series. Randy Olson: I run
the popular data blog at RandalOlson.com/blog/, most recently known for
creating the “Ultimate American Road Trip” and solving Where’s Waldo?.
I tweet daily about data visualization and machine learning at
@randal_olson, and moderate the largest online community dedicated to
data analysis and visualization on reddit, /r/DataIsBeautiful. Aside
from my hobbies, I am an AI and visualization researcher at the
University of Pennsylvania (previously Michigan State University)
working to usher in the next era of Artificial Intelligence. I do my
best to ensure that AI will end up friendly and useful rather than a
malevolent Skynet. We’re here to answer all of your questions about our
recent work on creating visual, interactive maps of online communities
such as reddit to make it easier for you to discover new communities.
You can find the reddit map we published here (from mid-2013), along
with a writeup on the history and motivation of the project here. Feel
free to hit us with any non-research related questions too. We’re here
for you to Ask Us Anything! Update: Thank you all for your questions and
comments over the past several hours. We had a blast! We will check back
in on this thread over the next few days, but it’s time to head back to
work. We hope you like our Reddit mapping method, and if you’d like to
join the effort to keep the Reddit map updated, we posted a list of our
open-source mapping tools and encourage you to get in touch with us. If
you have more you’d like to ask, you can follow up with us on Twitter or
email: Prof. Zachary Neal: @zpneal / zpneal AT msu DOT edu Dr. Randy
Olson: @randal_olson / email