Complementing studies on vulnerable youths with reddit data
Andrea Mauri (TU Delft - Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence)
Achilleas Psyllidis (TU Delft - Internet of Things)
Alessandro Bozzon (TU Delft - Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence)
Joon Sue Lee ( Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
Jason Pridmore ( Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
Liesbet van Zoonen ( Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
Sarah Giest (Universiteit Leiden)
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Abstract
Social web data increasingly complement studies of various social phenomena, especially when the availability of traditional data is limited. One such case is that of vulnerable young populations that are disengaged from employment, education, or training; usually referred to as NEETs. This paper explores the extent to which social media data and discussion websites could complement conventional sources in the study of NEETs. We focus on user-generated content posted to the dedicated r/NEET subreddit, which gathers subscribers who self-identify as NEETs. We develop and implement a data processing pipeline for the analysis of the behavioral patterns and main concerns of this social group. Our analysis of Reddit data reaches similar conclusions to official reports from governmental institutions in Europe. The paper also provides insights into health-related issues and latent interests of NEETs, not recorded in official reports and related literature.