Reddit Discussion Network Visualization

Info

This is a network visualization of Reddit discussions. You can choose a post from the front page, or add a link from a reddit discussion, for example: "http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jd005/we_are_engineers_and_scientists_on_the_mars/"

The data is obtained from the Reddit API, the network is built with D3js, and the content previews are generated with Embedly.

OP is colored orange, all other nodes are black. If they post more than once, I give them a random color. The URL updates to reflect the conversation you are viewing, so you can share that URL to share the network.

Here is a blog post with examples of visualizations with the network.

Why I made this

Before Reddit I would browse HN, and after the switch I noticed how nested the discussions became on Reddit. I also wanted a quick way to find top comments through a conversation. A network visualization linking responses to parent posts made sense.

I also love looking social data and conversations online. Reddit is a natural place to explore.

Cool things I've noticed so far

It's fun to use this to browse Reddit and find patterns, some confirming what you would expect. Looking at an AMA you see much more upvoting and OP responses, as expected. Looking at an AskReddit you see a lot more upvoting. Sometimes threads extend far from the original post, those usually contain several posts by the same user.

Some dependencies

This uses Foundation, an icon library from Foundation, jQuery, D3, and Embedly jQuery