Cutting down the clutter in online conversations
From Reddit to Quora, discussion forums can be equal parts informative and daunting. We’ve all fallen down rabbit holes of lengthy threads that are impossible to sift through. Comments can be redundant, off-topic or even inaccurate, but all that content is ultimately still there for us to try and untangle. Sick of the clutter, a team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) has developed “Wikum,” a system that helps users construct concise, expandable summaries that make it easier to navigate unruly discussions. “Right now, every forum member has to go through the same mental labor of squeezing out key points from long threads,” says MIT Professor David Karger, who was senior author on a new paper about Wikum. “If every reader could contribute that mental labor back into the discussion, it would save that time and energy for every future reader, making the conversation more useful for everyone.” The team...