Hmm. Given the broad range of topics "social Media" covers, there are vast numbers of papers on it.
For people who have NEVER thought of social networks and conversations online I find this site to discuss some of the blander but more game theoretic elements of networks/trust and therefore online conversations:
For you guys (HN Mods) I'd bet that you in particular are abreast of stuff.
- I'd ask if you have heard/seen Civil Servant, by Nathan Matias - its a system to do experiments on forums and test the results (see if there is a measurable change on user behavior)
- Censored, suspended, shadowbanned: User interpretations of content moderation on social media platforms: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/146144481877305... (I need to read that paper, but I expect it to be a good foundation of knowledge and examples)
Hey really big thank you for posting this! I'm working on a new discussion site and so much of this is pertinent. I may return with some follow-up commentary once I've read through some of it, thank you.
For people who have NEVER thought of social networks and conversations online I find this site to discuss some of the blander but more game theoretic elements of networks/trust and therefore online conversations:
https://ncase.me/crowds/
https://ncase.me/trust/
-----------------
For you guys (HN Mods) I'd bet that you in particular are abreast of stuff.
- I'd ask if you have heard/seen Civil Servant, by Nathan Matias - its a system to do experiments on forums and test the results (see if there is a measurable change on user behavior)
https://natematias.com/ - Civil Servant, Professor Cornell. He probably has an account here
https://civilservant.io/moderation_experiment_r_science_rule...
- Books: Custodians of the internet.
------
Going through some of the papers I have stocked away, sadly in no sane order. I can't say if they are classic papers, you may have better.
- Policy/law Paper: Georgetown law, Regulating Online Content Moderation. https://www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-law-journal/wp-con...
- NBER paper on polarization - https://www.nber.org/papers/w23258, I disagreed/was surprised by the conclusion. America centric.
- Homophily and minority-group size explain perception biases in social networks, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0677-4
- The spreading of misinformation online: https://www.pnas.org/content/113/3/554.full
- The Uni of Alabama has a reddit research group, - https://arrg.ua.edu/research.html, they have 2 papers. One of which explores the effect of a sudden influx of new users on r/2xchromosomes. https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10143/...
-policy: OFCOM (UK) has a policy paper on using AI for moderation https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/157249/...
- Algorithmic content moderation: Technical and political challenges in the automation of platform governance - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2053951719897945
- The Web Centipede: Understanding How Web Communities Influence Each Other Through the Lens of Mainstream and Alternative News Sources
- Community Interaction and Conflict on the Web,
- You Can’t Stay Here: The Efficacy of Reddit’s 2015 Ban Examined Through Hate Speech
Papers I have to read myself,
- Does Transparency in Moderation Really Matter?: User Behavior After Content Removal Explanations on Reddit. https://shagunjhaver.com/files/research/jhaver-2019-transpar...
- Censored, suspended, shadowbanned: User interpretations of content moderation on social media platforms: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/146144481877305... (I need to read that paper, but I expect it to be a good foundation of knowledge and examples)
Other stuff:
- The turing institute talked about Moderators being key workers during COVID - https://www.turing.ac.uk/blog/why-content-moderators-should-...