Modeling the Factors of User Success in Online Debate

Esin Durmus, Claire Cardie

Abstract: Debate is a process that gives individuals the opportunity to express, and to be exposed to, diverging viewpoints on controversial issues; and the existence of online debating platforms makes it easier for individuals to participate in debates and obtain feedback on their debating skills. But understanding the factors that contribute to a user's success in debate is complicated: while success depends, in part, on the characteristics of the language they employ, it is also important to account for the degree to which their beliefs and personal traits are compatible with that of the audience. Friendships and previous interactions among users on the platform may further influence success. In this work, we aim to better understand the mechanisms behind success in online debates. In particular, we study the relative effects of debaters' language, their prior beliefs and personal traits, and their social interactions with other users. We find, perhaps surprisingly, that characteristics of users' social interactions play the most important role in determining their success in debates although the best predictive performance is achieved by combining social interaction features with features that encode information on language use during the debate.