Latent thematic structures in right-and left-wing community discourse on Reddit

This study aims to analyse and compare linguistic patterns and thematic structures underlying discussions in right-wing (RW) and left-wing (LW) Reddit communities. Building on prior research that demonstrated differences between RW and LW users in their engagement with the broader public over a decade, we seek to deepen understanding of these engagement patterns and their broader implications. Our previous analysis (under review) includes examining cross-posting behaviours and comment scores within two RW, two LW, and one general US politics subreddit (r/politics), revealing a trend towards increasing partisan isolation, particularly among RW subreddits. RW subreddit users also tend to receive lower ratings in r/politics compared to LW counterparts, suggesting a growing divergence in the nature of content that resonates within LW and general political discussions, on the one hand, and RW subreddits, on the other hand. Together, these findings point to a potential trend of polarization and insularity within partisan subreddit discussions. Within this study we aim to identify and compare key thematic structures and linguistic markers across LW and RW subreddit discourses, expecting them to represent meaningful partisan differences in group norms, values, and narratives. Prior to this registration, our team conducted a preliminary exploration of noun frequencies within the discussions of each subreddit, comparing the monthly frequency dynamics of various nouns in terms of total counts, proportional representation, and rank order. This analysis was a minimum viable exploration of the discussion content to inform our understanding of partisan discourse on Reddit and substantiate further investigations. A document detailing these findings, including the methodology and results of the noun frequency analysis, will be added to this registration. This preliminary investigation has provided valuable insights that will inform the hypotheses and analytical approaches of the current study, ensuring that our exploration of thematic structures and linguistic markers is warranted and grounded in understanding of the discourse. The study is intended as the first phase in a broader research agenda. We plan to conduct a follow-up analysis focusing on dynamic topic modelling, which will investigate how the identified thematic structures and linguistic patterns evolve over time. This follow-up phase will involve a new set of hypotheses derived from the insights gained in the initial analysis and will be subject to an additional preregistration. That way, we intend to systemically build upon our findings to develop our understanding of partisan discourse dynamics on Reddit.