LAUSR

Highly engaged online communities can be characterized in terms of level of user activity and the valence of those activities. Positively‐valenced communities engage in co‐construction through supportive, uplifting interactions, while negatively‐valenced communities engage in co‐destruction through shared animosity towards outside individuals and groups. Both types of engagement offer prosocial benefits to community members, but this benefit is achieved through antisocial means in co‐destructive communities. This study examines the features of one positively‐valenced and one negatively‐valenced subreddit community to determine if the same engagement factors drive participation in each, and whether these factors may be influenced to promote positive, rather than negative engagement.