metadata

license: mit
language:
  - en
tags:
  - climate
  - energy
  - climatechange
  - reddit
  - socialnetwork
  - comment
size_categories:
  - 10K<n<100K

Dataset Card for Reddit Climate Comment

Dataset Description

The Reddit Climate Comment dataset is a collection of comments extracted from subreddits focused on discussions related to climate change, energy, and renewable energy. It includes comments from popular subreddits such as "Climate," "Energy," "RenewableEnergy," and “ClimateChange”. The dataset provides insights into user engagement, sentiment, and discussions surrounding environmental sustainability topics on Reddit. It was created using the Reddit API, with comments collected from the top posts in selected subreddits, totaling 44,109 comments. The dataset encompasses discussions in English language and serves as a comprehensive resource for natural language processing (NLP) and text-based analyses in the domain of climate change and energy.

Dataset Details

The dataset is centered around discussions related to clean energy and climate change, obtained through the Reddit API by extracting information from the top 1000 posts within specified subreddits and collected using a Python Library, Praw, on January 31th, 2024. These subreddits include “Climate”, “Energy”, “RenewableEnergy”, and “ClimateChange”. The dataset collected 20 comments under each post. The selection of curated subreddit names is determined by assessing both the relevance of the subreddit to energy and climate change and the size of the subreddit community, measured by the number of Reddit users who have joined. In the dataset, under the “Climate” subreddit category, there are 14,008 comments (184k users in the community), while 10,963 comments under “ClimateChange” subreddit category (89k users in the community); “Energy” subreddit has 13,741 comments (181k users in the community), and the “RenewableEnergy” subreddit has 5,397 comments (124k users in the community). In total, there are 44,109 comments across all subreddit. During the data collection process, timestamps were converted from Unix timestamps (seconds since the epoch) in the raw data into a UTC datetime object.

Curated by: Reddit users and the Reddit platform
Language(s): English
License: MIT

Dataset Sources

API Documentation: [https://www.reddit.com/dev/api/]

Supported Tasks

The Reddit Climate Comment dataset is intended to be used for various natural language processing (NLP) and text-based analyses related to discussions on climate change, energy, and renewable energy topics.

Supported tasks include:

Sentiment Analysis: determine the sentiment expressed in comments related to climate, energy, and renewable energy.
Topic Modeling: identify prevalent topics and themes within the energy and climate discussions.
Keyword Extraction: extract keywords or phrases that frequently appear in the dataset to understand the most discussed concepts within climate, energy, and renewable energy discussions
User Engagement Analysis: explore user engagement metrics, such as upvotes and comment length, to discern patterns in community participation and preferences.
Comparative Analysis: conduct comparative analyses between discussions in subreddits focused on "energy", "renewable energy", "climate", and “climatechange”. Explore how conversations differ across these thematic areas.
Temporal Analysis: investigate how discussions evolve by analyzing temporal patterns. Identify trends, peak activity periods, and correlations with real-world events.

Languages

The Reddit Climate Comment dataset primarily contains discussions in the English language. As Reddit is predominantly an English-language platform, the dataset mainly consists of comments written in standard English. However, it's worth noting that the dataset may include variations of English, such as informal language, colloquialisms, and possibly slang, commonly found in online discussions.

Out-of-Scope Use

While the Reddit Climate Comment dataset offers valuable insights into discussions surrounding climate change, energy, and renewable energy topics on Reddit, there are certain out-of-scope uses to consider:

The dataset should not be used for identifying or targeting individual Reddit users based on their comments.
Researchers and analysts should adhere to ethical guidelines and respect Reddit's terms of service when using the dataset. Any research or analysis conducted using the dataset should prioritize user privacy, respect community guidelines, and avoid harmful or malicious actions.

Dataset Structure

This JSON example represents a portion of the dataset focusing on the "climate" subreddit. It contains two sample posts, each with their respective post IDs and titles. Under each post, there are comments made by users, including the author's username, the comment's content, timestamp of the comment, number of upvotes it received, and the number of replies to the comment. This structure allows for efficient navigation and analysis of comments within specific subreddit communities and individual posts.

[
  {
    "Subreddit": "climate",
    "Posts": [
      {
        "PostId": 1,
        "post_title": "Climate change impacts on biodiversity",
        "comments": [
          {
            "CommentID": "abc123",
            "Author": "EcoWarrior22",
            "CommentBody": "This is a great article! It's crucial that we address the biodiversity crisis.",
            "Timestamp": "2024-01-31 12:34:56",
            "Upvotes": 10,
            "NumberofReplies": 50
          },
          {
            "CommentID": "def456",
            "Author": "GreenPlanet101",
            "CommentBody": "I agree. We need urgent action to protect our planet's ecosystems.",
            "Timestamp": "2024-01-31 13:45:32",
            "Upvotes": 5,
            "NumberofReplies": 10
          }
        ]
      },
      ...
    ]
  },
  ...
]

The dataset includes the following fields:

Subreddit (String): represents the name of the subreddit community where discussions are taking place (e.g., "climate").
  Posts (Array): contains information about individual posts within the subreddit.
    PostID (Integer): original post identifier.
    PostTitle (String): title of the Reddit post, summarizing the topic of discussion.
      Comments (Array): contains individual comments associated with the post.
        CommentID (String): unique ID for the comment.
        Author (String): username of the comment author.
        CommentBody (String): the text content of the comment.
        Timestamp (String): timestamp indicating when the comment was created (in UTC).
        Upvotes (Integer): number of upvotes received for the comment.
        NumberofReplies (Integer): number of replies received for the comment.

Dataset Creation

Curation Rationale

Research Interest in Climate Change and Energy Discourse: There is a growing interest in studying public discourse and attitudes towards climate change and energy sustainability. Reddit provides a rich source of user-generated content that reflects diverse perspectives, opinions, and discussions on these critical topics.
Understanding Public Opinion and Engagement: By analyzing discussions on Reddit, researchers can gain insights into public opinion, sentiment, and engagement regarding climate change and energy issues. Understanding the discourse dynamics and prevalent themes can inform policymakers, businesses, and advocacy groups about public perceptions and concerns.
Comparative Analysis Across Subreddits: The inclusion of multiple subreddits related to climate change, energy, and renewable energy allows for comparative analysis. By comparing discussions across different thematic areas, researchers can identify common trends, differences in perspectives, and evolving narratives within the Reddit community.
Community Representation and Diversity: The dataset aims to include comments from diverse subreddit communities to ensure a broad representation of opinions and perspectives. This diversity enriches the dataset and enables researchers to capture a wide range of voices and viewpoints on climate and energy-related topics.

Source Data

The source data for this dataset comprises comments contributed by Reddit users participating in discussions on climate change, energy, and renewable energy topics within designated subreddits. These subreddits include "Climate," "Energy," "RenewableEnergy", and “ClimateChange”. The comments were extracted from the top posts within these subreddits using the Reddit API.

Data Collection and Processing

The data collection process involved extracting comments from the top posts in selected subreddits, including "Climate," "Energy," "RenewableEnergy", and “ClimateChange”, using the Reddit API. The PRAW Python library was utilized for interacting with the Reddit API. Specifically, the top 1000 posts were considered in each subreddit, with approximately 20 comments collected under each post. The data collection was performed on January 31st, 2024 with code in reddit_data_collection.py.

The processing steps included:

Parsing Timestamps: convert timestamps to a standardized date-time format.
Duplicate and Empty Cell Removal: check for and remove duplicate and empty cells to ensure dataset integrity and cleaness.
Updated Data Organization: to enhance the structure and organization of the dataset, under the same subreddit community, we group comments under the same post title, identified by a unique post ID. Each post ID serves as an identification number, and all relevant information, including comment ID, author, comment bodies, timestamps, upvotes, and number of replies, is grouped together within this array-like structure.

Benefits of the New Structure

Each post is uniquely identified by an assigned post ID, facilitating easy referencing and retrieval of information for specific posts.
Structured Comment Grouping provides a coherent and organized representation of discussions under each post and each subreddit community.
The array-based structure enhances the dataset's readability and accessibility, streamlining the process of extracting and analyzing information for each post.
The standardized format ensures a consistent approach to retrieving relevant data elements, such as authors, comment bodies, timestamps, and upvotes, for analysis or visualization.

These steps aimed to prepare the data for analysis while maintaining and improving its quality and consistency.

Who are the source data producers?

The source data producers are Reddit users who contributed comments to discussions on climate change, energy, and renewable energy topics within the specified subreddits.

Personal and Sensitive Information

[More Information Needed]

Bias, Risks, and Limitations

When dealing with discussions related to climate, energy, and renewable energy on the Reddit platform, it's essential to consider potential biases that may influence the data and subsequent analyses.

Selection Bias: the demographic composition of Reddit users may not be representative of the general population. Certain age groups, geographic regions, or ideological perspectives might be overrepresented or underrepresented, influencing the nature of discussions.
Subreddit Selection Bias: the choice of subreddits (e.g., "climate," "energy," "renewableenergy", and “climatechange”) introduces bias towards specific topics. This may lead to a skewed representation, as discussions in these subreddits may not reflect the broader spectrum of opinions on climate and energy.
User Engagement Bias: the dataset may primarily capture comments from active participants, potentially overlooking the opinions of more passive or silent observers. This could result in a biased representation of sentiments and perspectives.
Temporal Bias: the dataset's timeframe might be influenced by specific events, leading to a temporal bias. For instance, discussions during a major climate event may differ significantly from those during less eventful periods.
Upvote Bias: highly upvoted comments may receive more visibility, potentially shaping the perceived popularity of certain opinions. This could result in a bias towards more commonly accepted viewpoints.
Moderation Bias: different subreddits may have varying moderation policies, influencing the types of discussions allowed. Biases may arise if certain perspectives are disproportionately favored or discouraged by moderators.
Social Desirability Bias: users may conform to the prevailing opinions within a subreddit to avoid conflict or gain social approval. This social desirability bias may impact the authenticity of expressed opinions.

In addition to biases, there are several other known limitations associated with working with datasets focused on climate, energy, and renewable energy discussions on Reddit. Being aware of these limitations is crucial for researchers and analysts to interpret results accurately and responsibly:

Anonymity and Reliability: Reddit users typically operate under pseudonyms, making it challenging to verify the credibility and reliability of information shared. The lack of real-world identity verification introduces a potential limitation in assessing the authenticity of comments.
Quality of Comments: the quality of comments can vary widely, ranging from well-informed opinions to low-quality or irrelevant contributions. The dataset may include noise and off-topic discussions, affecting the overall quality of insights derived.
Limited Context: Reddit comments often lack the depth of context found in longer-form content. This limitation may make it challenging to fully understand the nuances of certain discussions or to interpret the sentiment accurately.
Reddit Algorithm Impact: the visibility and accessibility of comments are influenced by Reddit's algorithms. Changes in these algorithms may affect the reach and engagement of certain discussions, introducing a dynamic aspect that researchers should be mindful of.

Recommendations

Users should be made aware of the risks, biases and limitations of the dataset. More information needed for further recommendations.

Citation [optional]

BibTeX:

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APA:

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Contribution

We express gratitude to the Reddit community for their contributions to climate change and energy discussions. Special thanks to the PRAW library for enabling efficient Reddit API interactions, making this dataset possible.

Dataset Card Contact

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