Using Edgesense for online community management: interpreting the interaction graph

When you first load the Edgesense dashboard, you are presented with a visualization of all the interactions that ever took place in your community. Its interpretation depends on the age of the community.

By "interpretation" we mean assigning a meaning to network edges. When users first interact on an online community, their relationship changes. Consider the case of Alice leaving a comment to Bob. What can we conclude?

1. In relational terms, Alice signals interest for what Bob has to say, and makes herself (more) available to interact with him. The two were already part of the same community, but now their relationship has changed. In network terms, Bob's higher in-degree signals he is considered more interesting by the community. Alice's higher out-degree signals she is more generous in sharing knowledge, or simply more chatty.
2. In informational terms, Alice has transmitted some information to Bob. Unless the dynamics between the two is one of conflict, we can assume Bob has become an accumulator of collective intelligence: he knows what he knew before, plus what Alice transmitted to him. In network terms, Bob's higher in-degree signals a more informed judgment.