Flash forums and forumReader: navigating a new kind of large-scale online discussion

ABSTRACT

We describe a popular kind of large, topic-centered, transient discussion, which we term a <i>flash forum</i>. These occur in settings ranging from web-based bulletin boards to corporate intranets, and they display a conversational style distinct from Usenet and other online discussion. Notably, authorship is more diffuse, and threads are less deep and distinct. To help orient users and guide them to areas of interest within flash forums, we designed ForumReader, a tool combining data visualization with automatic topic extraction. We describe lessons learned from deployment to thousands of users in a real world setting. We also report a laboratory experiment to investigate how interface components affect behavior, comprehension, and information retrieval. The ForumReader interface is well-liked by users, and our results suggest it can lead to new navigation patterns. We also find that, while both visualization and text analytics are helpful individually, combining them may be counterproductive.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Evaluation/methodology

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Graphical user interfaces (GUI)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces
          Subjects: Computer-supported cooperative work

General Terms:
Human Factors

Keywords:
collaboration, large-scale conversations, mass interaction, persistent conversations, prototype, thumbnail interface, user interface, user study, visualization