![[2602.15600] The geometry of online conversations and the causal antecedents of conflictual discourse](https://arxiv.org/static/browse/0.3.4/images/arxiv-logo-fb.png){kind=logo}
[2602.15600] The geometry of online conversations and the causal antecedents of conflictual discourse
Summary
This article explores the dynamics of conflictual discourse in online conversations, particularly focusing on climate change discussions. It analyzes how temporal and structural factors influence the tone, stance, and emotional framing of responses in threaded discussions.
Why It Matters
Understanding the antecedents of conflictual discourse is crucial in today's digital communication landscape, especially regarding sensitive topics like climate change. This research provides insights into how online interactions can be shaped by structural features, potentially informing strategies for fostering more respectful and constructive dialogue.
Key Takeaways
- Longer delays between posts lead to more respectful replies.
- Responses tend to align with the tone and emotional framing of earlier posts.
- Parent posts have a stronger influence on sibling responses than vice versa.
- Emotional alignment is amplified when sibling posts agree with the parent.
- Understanding these dynamics can help improve online discourse.
Computer Science > Social and Information Networks arXiv:2602.15600 (cs) [Submitted on 17 Feb 2026] Title:The geometry of online conversations and the causal antecedents of conflictual discourse Authors:Carlo Santagiustina, Caterina Cruciani View a PDF of the paper titled The geometry of online conversations and the causal antecedents of conflictual discourse, by Carlo Santagiustina and 1 other authors View PDF Abstract:This article investigates the causal antecedents of conflictual language and the geometry of interaction in online threaded conversations related to climate change. We employ three annotation dimensions, inferred through LLM prompting and averaging, to capture complementary aspects of discursive conflict (such as stance: agreement vs disagreement; tone: attacking vs respectful; and emotional versus factual framing) and use data from a threaded online forum to examine how these dimensions respond to temporal, conversational, and arborescent structural features of discussions. We show that, as suggested by the literature, longer delays between successive posts in a thread are associated with replies that are, on average, more respectful, whereas longer delays relative to the parent post are associated with slightly less disagreement but more emotional (less factual) language. Second, we characterize alignment with the local conversational environment and find strong convergence both toward the average stance, tone and emotional framing of older sibling posts ...
