Abstract
In this paper we analyze the structural and linguistic dynamics of online toxicity in Reddit discussion trees, focusing on how trigger comments escalate conflicts in Brazilian Portuguese. Using a fine-tuned BERTAbaporu model, we show that toxic discussions are deeper, more engaging, and initially semantically cohesive, but degrade over time, while non-toxic interactions emphasize social bonding. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of toxicity escalation and support early detection of discursive conflicts.
- Anthology ID:
- 2026.propor-1.57
- Volume:
- Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computational Processing of Portuguese (PROPOR 2026) - Vol. 1
- Month:
- April
- Year:
- 2026
- Address:
- Salvador, Brazil
- Editors:
- Marlo Souza, Iria de-Dios-Flores, Diana Santos, Larissa Freitas, Jackson Wilke da Cruz Souza, Eugénio Ribeiro
- Venue:
- PROPOR
- SIG:
- Publisher:
- Association for Computational Linguistics
- Note:
- Pages:
- 581–590
- Language:
- URL:
- https://aclanthology.org/2026.propor-1.57/
- DOI:
- Bibkey:
- Cite (ACL):
- Giovana Piorino, Marco Antônio de Alcântara Machado, Luiz Henrique Quevedo Lima, Adriana Pagano, and Ana Paula Couto da Silva. 2026. Diálogos Tóxicos: Gatilhos e Padrões de Interação no Reddit Brasileiro. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computational Processing of Portuguese (PROPOR 2026) - Vol. 1, pages 581–590, Salvador, Brazil. Association for Computational Linguistics.
- Cite (Informal):
- Diálogos Tóxicos: Gatilhos e Padrões de Interação no Reddit Brasileiro (Piorino et al., PROPOR 2026)
- Copy Citation:
- PDF:
- https://aclanthology.org/2026.propor-1.57.pdf