Analyzing Characteristics and Dynamics of User Behaviors in Social Q&A Community: Case Study of Zhihu.com
Guo Bo1, Zhao Junrui2(), Sun Yu3
1Meizu Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100872, China 2College of Information Science & Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China; 3Computer Science Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 91768, USA
[Objective] This paper aims to explore users’ relationship network and behaviors in the social question and answer (Q&A) communities. [Methods] First, we retrieved the publicly accessible user profiles and Q&A data from Zhihu.com, a popular online Q&A community in China. Then, we analyzed the social network structure, the user profiles and the time statistics of users’ behaviors based on complex network and human dynamics theories. [Results] The Zhihu users showed some similar behaviors at the individual and group levels. The inter-event time and waiting time followed the power-law distribution, with power index values of 0.68 and 1.51, respectively. The degree distribution of the relationship network, the amount of users’ answers, support, and comments met the exponential truncated power-law distribution. The overall behaviors of Zhihu users were of significant heterogeneity and multiple scale characteristics. [Limitations] The sample size needs to be expanded and more research is needed to compare our findings with studies of other social Q&A communities. [Conclusions] This study reveals the relationship between the user’s behaviors and information dissemination on Zhihu.com, which explores the network structure and the information flow of social question and answer communities.
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