ABSTRACT

This study offers a prescriptive review of the current status of Reddit in communication research. We analyze the characteristics of studies utilizing Reddit in the field of communication, examine the functions of Reddit within those studies, and identify future directions emerging from the analysis. Findings describe characteristics (e.g. methodologies, publication outlets, disciplinary affiliations, and use of theory) of communication studies utilizing Reddit. Findings also indicate three functions of Reddit in communication research and four future directions, one of which is the increased uptake of automated data sampling techniques. Thus, we supply a model script for scraping Reddit data using R. The discussion includes six best practices which assist scholars of communication seeking to utilize Reddit within their own research programs.

摘要

本研究对 Reddit 在传播研究中的现状进行了规范性回顾。我们分析了在通信领域使用 Reddit 的研究的特征，检查 Reddit 在这些研究中的功能，并确定分析中出现的未来方向。调查结果描述了利用 Reddit 进行传播研究的特征（例如方法、出版渠道、学科隶属关系和理论使用）。调查结果还表明 Reddit 在传播研究中的三个功能和四个未来方向，其中之一是增加对自动数据采样技术的采用。因此，我们提供了一个模型脚本，用于使用 R 抓取 Reddit 数据。讨论包括六种最佳实践，帮助通信学者在他们自己的研究计划中利用 Reddit。