The Branch Not Taken: Predicting Branching in Online Conversations

arXiv:2404.13613v1 Announce Type: cross
Abstract: Multi-participant discussions tend to unfold in a tree structure rather than a chain structure. Branching may occur for multiple reasons -- from the asynchronous nature of online platforms to a conscious decision by an interlocutor to disengage with part of the conversation. Predicting branching and understanding the reasons for creating new branches is important for many downstream tasks such as summarization and thread disentanglement and may help develop online spaces that encourage users to engage …

abstract arxiv asynchronous conversation conversations cs.cl cs.lg decision discussions multiple nature online platforms part platforms the conversation tree type understanding