Quality Metrics and Visualization of Verbatim Text to Improve Forum Moderation

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VerticalScope, Inc. owns and operates one of the most highly visited networks of online forums, which consistsof approximately 1200 sites representing social communities across a diverse set of verticals (categories),including automotive, powersports, pets, technology, collectibles, and health. These online discussion forumsattract thousands of active discussions every day regarding products and services from a variety of businesses.Therefore, VerticalScope is in an unique position to glean insights from the vast amount of rich unstructuredinformation generated by its forum users.In this research project Dr. Christopher Collins and his team at the Vialab at UOIT will devise new measures ofthe engagement of users in online discussion forums, and the quality of the discussion taking place. Thesemeasures will then be made available to VerticalScope analysts using custom-designed web-based datavisualization tools. The tools created in this project will allow VerticalScope to monitor the health ofdiscussion forums in order to detect, amongst millions of posts, sources of user dissatisfaction which may leadto loss of participation. This will provide an opportunity for interventions to retain users. The visualizationtools will also help VerticalScope discover users who are contributing positively to discussions, in order topromote these discussions to the front page of a forum and increase engagement and participation.