City Research Online

Abstract

The architecture of public discourse has been profoundly reshaped by social media platforms, which mediate interactions at an unprecedented scale and complexity. This study analyzes user behavior across six platforms over 33 years, exploring how the size of conversations and communities influences dialogue dynamics. Our findings reveal that smaller platforms foster richer, more sustained interactions, while larger platforms drive broader but shorter participation. Moreover, we observe that the propensity for users to reengage in a conversation decreases as community size grows, with niche environments as a notable exception, where participation remains robust. These findings show an interdependence between platform architecture, user engagement, and community dynamics, shedding light on how digital ecosystems shape the structure and quality of public discourse.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 IEEE. This accepted manuscript is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Publisher Keywords:	Social networking (online), Oral communication, Message systems, Blogs, Shape, Heuristic algorithms, Context, Vaccines, Solids, Resilience, Attention economy, social computing, social media
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Departments:	School of Science & Technology School of Science & Technology > Department of Mathematics
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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