Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum

Lydia Manikonda; Heather Pon-Barry; Subbarao Kambhampati; David W. McDonald

Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum

Lydia Manikonda
, Heather Pon-Barry
, Subbarao Kambhampati
, David W. McDonald

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Online social communities are becoming increasingly popular platforms for people to share information, seek emotional support, and maintain accountability for losing weight. Studying the discourse in these communities can offer insights on how users benefit from using these applications. This paper presents an analysis of language and discourse patterns in forum posts by users who lose weight and keep it off versus users with fluctuating weight dynamics. In contrast to prior studies, we have access to the weekly self-reported check-in weights of users along with their forum posts. This paper also presents a study on how goal-oriented forums are different from general online forums in terms of language markers. Our results reveal differences about how the types of posts made by users vary along with their weight-loss patterns. These insights are closely related to the power dynamics of social interactions and can enable better design of weight-loss applications thereby contributing to a healthy society.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	WS-16-01
Subtitle of host publication	Artificial Intelligence Applied to Assistive Technologies and Smart Environments; WS-16-02: AI, Ethics, and Society; WS-16-03: Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security; WS-16-04: Artificial Intelligence for Smart Grids and Smart Buildings; WS-16-05: Beyond NP; WS-16-06: Computer Poker and Imperfect Information Games; WS-16-07: Declarative Learning Based Programming; WS-16-08: Expanding the Boundaries of Health Informatics Using AI; WS-16-09: Incentives and Trust in Electronic Communities; WS-16-10: Knowledge Extraction from Text; WS-16-11: Multiagent Interaction without Prior Coordination; WS-16-12: Planning for Hybrid Systems; WS-16-13: Scholarly Big Data: AI Perspectives, Challenges, and Ideas; WS-16-14: Symbiotic Cognitive Systems; WS-16-15: World Wide Web and Population Health Intelligence
Publisher	AI Access Foundation
Pages	787-795
Number of pages	9
ISBN (Electronic)	9781577357599
State	Published - 2016
Event	30th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, AAAI 2016 - Phoenix, United States Duration: Feb 12 2016 → Feb 17 2016

Publication series

Name	AAAI Workshop - Technical Report
Volume	WS-16-01 - WS-16-15

Other

Other	30th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, AAAI 2016
Country/Territory	United States
City	Phoenix
Period	2/12/16 → 2/17/16

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Engineering

Cite this

Manikonda, L., Pon-Barry, H., Kambhampati, S., & McDonald, D. W. (2016). Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum. In WS-16-01: Artificial Intelligence Applied to Assistive Technologies and Smart Environments; WS-16-02: AI, Ethics, and Society; WS-16-03: Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security; WS-16-04: Artificial Intelligence for Smart Grids and Smart Buildings; WS-16-05: Beyond NP; WS-16-06: Computer Poker and Imperfect Information Games; WS-16-07: Declarative Learning Based Programming; WS-16-08: Expanding the Boundaries of Health Informatics Using AI; WS-16-09: Incentives and Trust in Electronic Communities; WS-16-10: Knowledge Extraction from Text; WS-16-11: Multiagent Interaction without Prior Coordination; WS-16-12: Planning for Hybrid Systems; WS-16-13: Scholarly Big Data: AI Perspectives, Challenges, and Ideas; WS-16-14: Symbiotic Cognitive Systems; WS-16-15: World Wide Web and Population Health Intelligence (pp. 787-795). (AAAI Workshop - Technical Report; Vol. WS-16-01 - WS-16-15). AI Access Foundation.

Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum. / Manikonda, Lydia; Pon-Barry, Heather; Kambhampati, Subbarao et al.
WS-16-01: Artificial Intelligence Applied to Assistive Technologies and Smart Environments; WS-16-02: AI, Ethics, and Society; WS-16-03: Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security; WS-16-04: Artificial Intelligence for Smart Grids and Smart Buildings; WS-16-05: Beyond NP; WS-16-06: Computer Poker and Imperfect Information Games; WS-16-07: Declarative Learning Based Programming; WS-16-08: Expanding the Boundaries of Health Informatics Using AI; WS-16-09: Incentives and Trust in Electronic Communities; WS-16-10: Knowledge Extraction from Text; WS-16-11: Multiagent Interaction without Prior Coordination; WS-16-12: Planning for Hybrid Systems; WS-16-13: Scholarly Big Data: AI Perspectives, Challenges, and Ideas; WS-16-14: Symbiotic Cognitive Systems; WS-16-15: World Wide Web and Population Health Intelligence. AI Access Foundation, 2016. p. 787-795 (AAAI Workshop - Technical Report; Vol. WS-16-01 - WS-16-15).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Manikonda, L, Pon-Barry, H, Kambhampati, S & McDonald, DW 2016, Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum. in WS-16-01: Artificial Intelligence Applied to Assistive Technologies and Smart Environments; WS-16-02: AI, Ethics, and Society; WS-16-03: Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security; WS-16-04: Artificial Intelligence for Smart Grids and Smart Buildings; WS-16-05: Beyond NP; WS-16-06: Computer Poker and Imperfect Information Games; WS-16-07: Declarative Learning Based Programming; WS-16-08: Expanding the Boundaries of Health Informatics Using AI; WS-16-09: Incentives and Trust in Electronic Communities; WS-16-10: Knowledge Extraction from Text; WS-16-11: Multiagent Interaction without Prior Coordination; WS-16-12: Planning for Hybrid Systems; WS-16-13: Scholarly Big Data: AI Perspectives, Challenges, and Ideas; WS-16-14: Symbiotic Cognitive Systems; WS-16-15: World Wide Web and Population Health Intelligence. AAAI Workshop - Technical Report, vol. WS-16-01 - WS-16-15, AI Access Foundation, pp. 787-795, 30th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, AAAI 2016, Phoenix, United States, 2/12/16.

Manikonda L, Pon-Barry H, Kambhampati S, McDonald DW. Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum. In WS-16-01: Artificial Intelligence Applied to Assistive Technologies and Smart Environments; WS-16-02: AI, Ethics, and Society; WS-16-03: Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security; WS-16-04: Artificial Intelligence for Smart Grids and Smart Buildings; WS-16-05: Beyond NP; WS-16-06: Computer Poker and Imperfect Information Games; WS-16-07: Declarative Learning Based Programming; WS-16-08: Expanding the Boundaries of Health Informatics Using AI; WS-16-09: Incentives and Trust in Electronic Communities; WS-16-10: Knowledge Extraction from Text; WS-16-11: Multiagent Interaction without Prior Coordination; WS-16-12: Planning for Hybrid Systems; WS-16-13: Scholarly Big Data: AI Perspectives, Challenges, and Ideas; WS-16-14: Symbiotic Cognitive Systems; WS-16-15: World Wide Web and Population Health Intelligence. AI Access Foundation. 2016. p. 787-795. (AAAI Workshop - Technical Report).

Manikonda, Lydia ; Pon-Barry, Heather ; Kambhampati, Subbarao et al. / Venting weight : Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum. WS-16-01: Artificial Intelligence Applied to Assistive Technologies and Smart Environments; WS-16-02: AI, Ethics, and Society; WS-16-03: Artificial Intelligence for Cyber Security; WS-16-04: Artificial Intelligence for Smart Grids and Smart Buildings; WS-16-05: Beyond NP; WS-16-06: Computer Poker and Imperfect Information Games; WS-16-07: Declarative Learning Based Programming; WS-16-08: Expanding the Boundaries of Health Informatics Using AI; WS-16-09: Incentives and Trust in Electronic Communities; WS-16-10: Knowledge Extraction from Text; WS-16-11: Multiagent Interaction without Prior Coordination; WS-16-12: Planning for Hybrid Systems; WS-16-13: Scholarly Big Data: AI Perspectives, Challenges, and Ideas; WS-16-14: Symbiotic Cognitive Systems; WS-16-15: World Wide Web and Population Health Intelligence. AI Access Foundation, 2016. pp. 787-795 (AAAI Workshop - Technical Report).

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title = "Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum",

abstract = "Online social communities are becoming increasingly popular platforms for people to share information, seek emotional support, and maintain accountability for losing weight. Studying the discourse in these communities can offer insights on how users benefit from using these applications. This paper presents an analysis of language and discourse patterns in forum posts by users who lose weight and keep it off versus users with fluctuating weight dynamics. In contrast to prior studies, we have access to the weekly self-reported check-in weights of users along with their forum posts. This paper also presents a study on how goal-oriented forums are different from general online forums in terms of language markers. Our results reveal differences about how the types of posts made by users vary along with their weight-loss patterns. These insights are closely related to the power dynamics of social interactions and can enable better design of weight-loss applications thereby contributing to a healthy society.",

author = "Lydia Manikonda and Heather Pon-Barry and Subbarao Kambhampati and McDonald, \{David W.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2016, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.; 30th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, AAAI 2016 ; Conference date: 12-02-2016 Through 17-02-2016",

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AB - Online social communities are becoming increasingly popular platforms for people to share information, seek emotional support, and maintain accountability for losing weight. Studying the discourse in these communities can offer insights on how users benefit from using these applications. This paper presents an analysis of language and discourse patterns in forum posts by users who lose weight and keep it off versus users with fluctuating weight dynamics. In contrast to prior studies, we have access to the weekly self-reported check-in weights of users along with their forum posts. This paper also presents a study on how goal-oriented forums are different from general online forums in terms of language markers. Our results reveal differences about how the types of posts made by users vary along with their weight-loss patterns. These insights are closely related to the power dynamics of social interactions and can enable better design of weight-loss applications thereby contributing to a healthy society.

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Venting weight: Analyzing the discourse of an online weight loss forum

Abstract

Publication series

Other

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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