Data science used to analyse the differences between Singapore subreddit and EDMW forum

Singaporeans looking to voice their opinions in an online community can be roughly partitioned into four demographics — those on Reddit, those who frequent Hardware Zone’s Eat Drink Man Woman (EDMW) forum, those who go on Twitter, and those who post on Facebook groups (Complaint Singapore, ugh).

The two communities that are typically at odds with each other are the Redditors on r/Singapore and the posters on EDMW, and it’s not hard to see why. Where the former appears more structured and cultured, the latter is a free-for-all for random topic discussions. 

“What these two have in common is that members from both communities are equally judgemental and loyal to their respective communities,” writes Jackie Tan, an instructor at coding training school UpCode Academy. 

In a fascinating study conducted by three UpCode Academy graduates, data science techniques were used to accurately analyse the differences between the elements that separate r/Singapore and EDMW. We’ll spare you the technicalities of Python programming, but the main polarities they found between the two online communities are the verbosity, crassness, and activity.

We’ll let you read through the full findings of UpCode Academy, but some highlights include the fact that EDMW users actually use less profanities than Redditors, and that Redditors come off as less assertive (and thus more polite) than their EDMW counterparts. Presumably, each community will find faults and limitations in the study, and will be sure to make it clear on the respective platforms. 

ilyas@asiaone.com