ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL ATTENTION ON SUBREDDIT COMMUNITY PRACTICES: THE CASE OF /R/HONGKONG

Abstract

What happens to internet communities after a global media event puts them in the public spotlight? Does the flood of new members change a given community's practices, structures, and discussions? Do things go back to normal? These questions lie at the heart of our research project, which examines how a local subcommunity on the popular website Reddit changed as its matter of focus became a global discussion subject. Specifically, this study analyses changing posting practices on /r/hongkong, a local subreddit whose popularity skyrocketed in 2019, with the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement garnering worldwide media coverage. Now, with global attention shifting away from the protests and the 2020 Hong Kong National Security law, the subreddit no longer exhibits the same level of activity. But what can be learnt beyond simply looking at the numbers? Can a qualitative change be observed on /r/hongkong? In this extended abstract, we examine the existing research on subreddits as a community, consider the potential significance of media events and subsequent influxes of new users for community practice, outline our methodological approach, and highlight some preliminary findings.