rnt 0.1.3

A simple tool for generating and analyzing Reddit networks.

RNT - Reddit Network Toolkit

A simple tool for generating and extracting network objects from Reddit data sets.

Author

Jacob Rohde

Email: [e-mail] | Twitter: @jacobrohde | GitHub: @jarohde

Features

• Extracts a simple data set of Reddit submissions and their associated comments via keyword or subreddit search terms.

• Provides single and batch subreddit- and thread-level network statistics.

• Generates edge and node lists, and creates network objects (via NetworkX) from Reddit data sets. Networks:

  • can be directed or undirected;

  • contain subreddit node attributes;

  • contain subreddit and weight edge attributes;

  • allow for optional text classification attributes.

• Can visualize simple graphs via Matplotlib.

General

Current version:

0.1.3 (released 10/21/22)

Import RNT library:

import rnt

Classes and functions

• GetRedditData()

• GetRedditNetwork()

• subreddit_statistics()

• reddit_thread_statistics()

• single_network_plot()

Usage

GetRedditData()

rnt.GetRedditData(search_term, 
                  search_term_is_subreddit, 
                  size, 
                  start_date, 
                  end_date)

Overview: A class object for extracting a Reddit data set.

Arguments/attributes:

search_term: The only required argument. Takes a string as a single search term or list of strings for multiple search terms (e.g., search_term='news' or search_term=['news', 'cnn']). If extracting a subreddit data set (see 'search_term_is_subreddit' below), only provide a string of a single subreddit name (e.g., 'AskReddit').

search_term_is_subreddit: Optional Boolean (True or False) argument to signify whether GetRedditData extracts a subreddit data set; default set to False.

size: Optional integer argument to signify how many Reddit submissions and their associated comments to extract; default set to 500 submission. GetRedditData should only be used to extract limited or exploratory data sets. I recommend using the Pushshift Reddit repository for extracting large data sets.

start_date/end_date: Optional date arguments for GetRedditData; default end date set to current date and default start date set to one week prior. Format should be string objects organized like 'YYYY, MM, DD' (e.g., start_date='2022, 5, 27' for May 27, 2022).

GetRedditData.df: Object attribute; extracts the Reddit data set as a pandas DataFrame object.

GetRedditData.write_data(): Object method that writes the pandas DataFrame object to file. The method can take file_type and file_name as optional arguments. file_type indicates what file format to use when writing the data set and accepts a string argument of either 'json' or 'csv'; default set to 'json'. file_name takes a string to indicate what the file name should be saved as; default set to the search term provided.

GetRedditNetwork()

rnt.GetRedditNetwork(reddit_dataset, 
                     edge_type, 
                     text_attribute) 

Overview: A class object for generating edge and node lists, and a NetworkX graph object from a Reddit data set.

Arguments/attributes:

reddit_dataset: The only required argument. Takes a Reddit data set or a GetRedditData object.

edge_type: Optional string argument of either 'directed' or 'undirected' to signify network edge type; default set to directed.

text_attribute: Optional string, list, or dictionary argument to characterize an edge attribute based on one or more text categories. Result will return True or False for a network edge if the Reddit submission initiating the edge contains the provided keyword(s). Providing the argument with a string or list data type will generate a single text attribute column in the edge list and NetworkX graph object. Providing the argument with a dictionary data type will generate multiple text attribute columns. Dictionary text attribute example:

text_attribute={'apples': ['fuji', 'red delicious', 'granny smith'], 
                'oranges': ['valencia', 'mandarin', 'tangerine'], 
                'berries': ['blueberry', 'raspberry', 'blackberry']}

GetRedditNetwork.edge_list: Returns a pandas DataFrame of the network edge list with columns for the poster, commenter, the subreddit the edge occurred in, and an optional text attribute column.

GetRedditNetwork.node_list: Returns a pandas DataFrame of the network node list with columns for each unique node, the node's in-degree and out-degree values, and a list of subreddits the node participated in within the network.

GetRedditNetwork.adjacency: Returns a dictionary of network adjacency matrices. Both weighted and unweighted matrices are returned by default. The dictionary will also return weighted adjacency matrices for each optional edge-based text attribute that users identified when creating the class.

GetRedditNetwork.graph: Returns a NetworkX graph object.

GetRedditNetwork.write_data(): Object method that writes edge_list and node_list data sets to file. The method takes file_type, file_name, and adjacency as optional arguments. file_type indicates what file format to use when writing the data sets and accepts a string argument of either 'json' or 'csv'; default set to 'json'. file_name takes a string to indicate what to append at the end of the edge and node list file names (e.g., file_name='apple' will save the files as 'edge_list_apple.json' and 'node_list_apple.json'). adjacency accepts a boolean and indicates whether to save the data sets as adjacency matrices instead of edge and node lists.

subreddit_statistics()

rnt.subreddit_statistics(reddit_dataset, subreddit_list) 

Overview: A function for extracting basic statistics for single or batch subreddit networks. The function currently returns a single pandas DataFrame with example subreddit network statistics including number of nodes, edges, and network density, among others.

Arguments:

reddit_dataset: The only required argument. Takes a Reddit data set or a GetRedditData object.

subreddit_list: An optional list argument to indicate the specific subreddits to compute analyses for; default set to all unique subreddits in a data set that Reddit submissions were published in.

reddit_thread_statistics()

rnt.reddit_thread_statistics(reddit_dataset, reddit_thread_list)

Overview: A function for extracting basic statistics for single or batch Reddit threads (initiated by Reddit submissions). The function currently returns a single pandas DataFrame with example statistics including the number of unique commenters to the thread, and the earliest/latest response times to the thread, among others.

Arguments:

reddit_dataset: The only required argument. Takes a Reddit data set or a GetRedditData object.

reddit_thread_list: An optional list argument to provide the specific Reddit thread IDs (i.e., Reddit submission IDs) to analyze; default set to all unique threads in a Reddit data set.

single_network_plot()

rnt.single_network_plot(network, **kwargs)

Overview: A simple function for plotting networks via NetworkX and Matplotlib (additional install required). Please note this function is currently a work in progress and is meant to be basic tool to plot a single graph. See NetworkX documentation for more advanced plotting needs.

Arguments:

network: The only required argument. Takes a GetRedditNetwork or NetworkX graph object.

title: Optional string argument to add a title to the plot.

pos: Optional string argument to set the NetworkX plotting algorithm. For ease of use, the argument currently accepts one of the following layout types as a string:

• 'spring_layout' (default)
• 'kamada_kawai_layout'
• 'circular_layout'
• 'random_layout'

**kwargs: The function also accepts several other NetworkX keyword arguments for plotting (please see NetworkX documentation for more info on these arguments). Currently accepted arguments include:

• 'arrows' (bool)
• 'arrowsize' (int)
• 'edge_color' (str or list/array)
• 'font_size' (int)
• 'node_color' (str or list/array)
• 'node_size' (str or list/array)
• 'verticalalignment' (str)
• 'width' (int/float or list/array)
• 'with_labels' (bool)

Requirements

• Python 3.XX
• numpy - a Python library for handling arrays and matrices
• pandas - a Python library for data management
• NetworkX - a Python library for network analysis
• PMAW - a multithread tool for extracting Reddit data via the Pushshift API
• Matplotlib (only if using the single_network_plot() function) - a Python library for plotting

Support

For support, email [e-mail].

License

MIT