On the Self-similarity of Wikipedia Talks: a Combined Discourse-analytical and Quantitative Approach

Do the talk pages in Wikipedia, referred to as Wikicussions, exhibit effects of mass communication? In order to provide an answer to this question, we assess Wikicussions from the point of view of dialog theory and identify characteristics specific to this webgenre. We then show that webgenres of this sort evolve into a state of multidimensional scale invariance that is simultaneously reflected on several syntactic and pragmatic dimensions - irrespective of the underlying topic being discussed and the composition of the underlying community of discussants. We also show that a system exhibiting multidimensional scale invariance interferes with thematic classification. The resulting confusability of the gestalt of Wikicussions in terms of their thematic provenance and their underlying participation structure is not just caused by the predominance of small units. Rather it also concerns larger or even largest Wikicussions. According to these findings, we distinguish two sorts of self-similarity of Wikipedia's discussion space: horizontally, regarding thematically demarcated subparts of this space, and vertically regarding the gestalt of top-level sections in relation to Wikicussions. Our analysis is exemplified by means of the discussion space of the German Wikipedia. The results suggest that a quantitative discourse analysis of big dialogical data as provided by Wikicussions is a promising way to explain the peculiarities of this medium: it can be a starting point for a corresponding theory formation.