Coherence Discourse analysis and Topic Drift in Instagram Comments

Each conversation starts with a specific topic and the participants become engaged in it. However, the topic the conversation ends with usually has a distance from where it began. This phenomenon is more observable in online discussions where participants are not face to face. Studies have analyzed topic coherence and topic drift in online discussions. A classification of some topic relations have also been provided, yet a closer look at Instagram online comments call for a closer inspection for such classifications. In this research, we have tried to come up with a more specific classification for coherence relations. Hobbs suggests on-topic, parallel, explanation and metatalk as such coherence relations. Herring and Nix add a fifth classification i.e. breaks. In our analysis, sub-classes have been found for the two groups on-topic and break.