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Dryad

Causal evidence for social group sizes from Wikipedia editing data

Data files

Apr 08, 2024 version files 320.67 KB

Abstract

Human communities have self-organizing properties in which specific Dunbar Numbers may be invoked to explain group attachments.  By analyzing Wikipedia editing histories across a wide range of subject pages, we show that there is an emergent coherence in the size of transient groups formed to edit the content of subject texts, with two peaks averaging at around $N=8$ for the size corresponding to maximal  contention, and at around $N=4$ as a regular team. These values are consistent with the observed sizes of conversational groups, as well as the hierarchical structuring of Dunbar graphs.  We use the Promise Theory model of bipartite trust to derive a scaling law that  fits the data and may apply to all group size distributions, when based on attraction to a seeded group process.  In addition to  providing further evidence that even spontaneous communities of strangers are self-organizing, the results have important implications for the governance of the Wikipedia commons and for the security of all online social platforms and associations.