Chapter1 Temporal Baseline Summary

Generated: October 23, 2025 at 04:55 AM

Chapter 1 Temporal Analysis

Pre-Pandemic Temporal Baseline Summary for Chapter 1

CUNY Reddit Communities (2018-2019)

Executive Finding for Section 1.2.3

The pre-pandemic baseline (2018-2019) reveals that CUNY Reddit communities already exhibited modest late-night activity, with 11.0% of all posts occurring between midnight and 6am. This finding establishes that while some 24/7 peer support infrastructure existed before COVID-19, the pandemic likely intensified rather than created these patterns.

Key Statistics for Academic Citation

Temporal Distribution (2018-2019)

  • Total posts analyzed: 17,999 across 8 CUNY subreddits
  • Late-night posts (00:00-05:59): 1,982 (11.0%)
  • Peak activity hours: 13:00-21:00 (traditional business/evening hours)
  • Lowest activity: 05:00-06:00 (80-142 posts per hour)

Engagement Patterns

  • Late-night average score: 2.82
  • Daytime average score: 2.90
  • Differential: -2.8% (slightly lower engagement at night)

Critical Evidence for Chapter 1 Narrative

Evidence of Pre-Existing Late-Night Academic Support

  1. Registration/Waitlist Anxiety [Evidence: submission_7o8y46]
    • January 5, 2018, 00:01:12 - Baruch student seeking waitlist advice after midnight
    • Shows pre-pandemic pattern of registration stress outside office hours
  2. Payment Deadline Concerns [Evidence: submission_7qavy1]
    • January 14, 2018, 03:58:56 - Student worrying about class drops at 4am
    • Demonstrates financial aid anxieties manifesting during late-night hours
  3. Financial Aid Emergency [Evidence: submission_85q1zu]
    • March 20, 2018, 00:31:10 - “TAP EMERGENCY” posted after midnight
    • Pre-pandemic evidence of urgent financial aid issues requiring peer support
  4. Textbook Access Issues [Evidence: submission_7svc9p]
    • January 25, 2018, 05:58:21 - Student seeking textbook at 6am
    • Shows resource scarcity concerns active in pre-dawn hours

Interpretive Framework for Chapter 1

What This Baseline Establishes:

  1. Pre-existing Infrastructure: The 11% late-night activity rate demonstrates that CUNY Reddit communities were already functioning as after-hours support spaces before the pandemic, though at modest levels.

  2. Nature of Late-Night Concerns: Pre-pandemic late-night posts focused primarily on:
    • Registration and waitlist anxieties
    • Financial aid emergencies
    • Resource access (textbooks, course materials)
    • Academic planning questions
  3. Engagement Patterns: The slightly lower engagement scores (-2.8%) for late-night posts suggest that while the infrastructure existed, it had not yet developed the high-engagement crisis response patterns potentially seen during COVID-19.

Comparative Context for Later Chapters

This baseline allows Chapter 2 to demonstrate:

  • Whether late-night activity increased during pandemic (from 11% baseline)
  • How engagement patterns shifted (from -2.8% to potentially positive differential)
  • Evolution from individual concerns to collective crisis response

Key Paragraph for Section 1.2.3

“Analysis of 17,999 posts from 2018-2019 reveals that CUNY Reddit communities already functioned as modest 24/7 support spaces before the pandemic, with 11% of activity occurring between midnight and 6am. Students sought help with registration anxieties [Evidence: submission_7o8y46], payment deadlines [Evidence: submission_7qavy1], and financial aid emergencies [Evidence: submission_85q1zu] during these late-night hours. However, with engagement scores 2.8% lower than daytime posts, this pre-pandemic infrastructure had not yet developed the intensive peer support dynamics that would emerge during COVID-19. This baseline establishes that while the technological and social foundation for round-the-clock peer support existed, the pandemic would transform its scale, intensity, and centrality to student survival.”

Methodological Notes

  • Data Coverage: All 8 CUNY subreddit databases analyzed
  • Temporal Range: Strict 2018-2019 boundary (pre-pandemic)
  • Evidence Format: submission_{reddit_id} for academic citation
  • Notable Gap: CUNYuncensored shows no activity (created post-2019)

Files Generated

  • Full analysis: pre_pandemic_temporal_baseline_20251003_195935.md
  • Raw data: pre_pandemic_temporal_baseline_20251003_195935.json
  • Chapter summary: chapter1_temporal_baseline_summary.md
Evidence References (4 items) â–¶

Submissions (4)