Understanding Toxicity and Sentiment Dynamics in Social Media: LLM Analysis of Diverse and Focused Interest Users

Online platforms host users with diverse interests, ranging from those with focused interests to those engaging in a wide range of topics. This study investigates the behavioral differences between these user types on Reddit, focusing on the level of toxicity in their posts and associated sentiment scores across nine emotional categories. By employing community embeddings to represent users in a high-dimensional space, we measure activity diversity using the GS score. The analysis utilizes a dataset of 16,291,992 posts from 4,926,237 users spanning 2019 to 2021, assessing toxicity and sentiment scores for each post. Results indicate that subreddits characterized by users with specialized interests exhibit heightened toxic behavior compared to those with diverse interest users. Additionally, subreddits populated by users with focused interests display elevated sentiments of sadness, annoyance, and disappointment, while those inhabited by diverse interest users demonstrate increased expressions of curiosity, admiration, and love. These insights contribute to understanding user behavior on online platforms and inform strategies for fostering healthier online communities.