Evolutionary Analysis of Topic and Topic Clusters in Informal Communication from the Perspective of Conversation Analysis

Subjects: Library Science，Information Science >> Information Science submitted time 2023-04-01 Cooperative journals: 《图书情报工作》

Wang Xiao Ma Chao Zhai Shanshan

Abstract： [Purpose/significance] Aiming at the limitations of current informal communication topic evolution research in both analysis level and measurement indicators, a universal evolution analysis method is proposed to explore the characteristics and patterns of topic evolution from micro and medium levels.[Method/process] Introducing the conversation analysis theory, taking Sina Microblog and Zhihu as examples, this paper revealed the evolutionary characteristics and patterns of informal information communication from the two dimensions of conversation content and discussion style through the analysis of running process of topics and topic clusters. Meanwhile, this paper designed the method of calculating and judging the continuity of a topic and explored measurement standard of the topic evolution.[Result/conclusion] The topic evolution analysis results show that the opinion group from Sina Microblog and Zhihu are obviously biased in topic content, and indicate the main perspectives of opinion group participating in the discussion of social focus event. The topic cluster evolution analysis find out that opinion group from Sina Microblog diversify and explore multiple topics in a certain range, while those from Zhihu always focus on the settled core topics. The difference in conversation content and discussion style between opinion groups in social media indicates the different role of Sina Microblog and Zhihu in informal information communication online.

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