June 13, 2011 03:11 pm EDT

Shocker! The internet is not egalitarian, popular forum posters have it easy

Researchers at the University of Georgia analyzed six years' worth of Usenet posts, and you know what they discovered? Life ain't fair. The most popular two percent of posters who started discussion threads hogged 50 percent of all replies, while everyone else struggled for attention. What made some thread-starters more attractive than others? Thankfully it wasn't rampant flaming. The distinguishing trait was actually how factual they were: only 12 percent of posts by popular posters contained personal opinions or comments. However, posting a bit of news isn't all it takes to win followers. In a related experiment, 200 volunteers were unleashed onto "simulated" discussion forums and their behavior revealed an even more important factor. The slightly flummoxed researchers called it a "preferential attachment", which pulled readers towards posters who already had an excess of followers. In other words, life still ain't fair. For a delightfully factual breakdown of the full results, check out the PR after the break.

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Shocker! The internet is not egalitarian, popular forum posters have it easy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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