Behavior Change in Response to Subreddit Bans and External Events

Abstract

As more people flock to social media to connect with others and form virtual communities, it is important to research how members of these groups interact to understand human behavior on the Web. In response to an increase in hate speech, harassment, and other antisocial behaviors, many social media companies have implemented different content and user moderation policies. On Reddit, for example, communities, i.e., subreddits, are occasionally banned for violating these policies. We study the effect of these regulatory actions as well as when a community experiences a significant external event such as a political election or a market crash. Overall, we find that most subreddit bans prompt a small, but statistically significant, number of active users to leave the platform; the effect of external events varies with the type of event. We conclude with a discussion on the effectiveness of the bans and wider implications for online content moderation.