On the relationships between user profiles and navigation sessions in virtual communities: A data-mining approach

Abstract

In this paper the analysis and Data-Mining of a large data-set related to a very popular Italian Virtual Community is presented. The Community is constituted by more than half-million registered users, each characterized by a unique nickname and a personal "profile" filled during a registration procedure, on a voluntary basis. Two data-sets have been considered: the Data-Base of the Users (nicknames and profiles), and the log-file of the server hosting the Community web-site. This work is constituted by three main parts: 1) analysis and clustering of the User Data-Base; 2) sessionization of the log-file and clustering of the navigation session database; 3) correlation of User clusters and navigation session clusters. This analysis provides a complete and full-rounded picture of the Virtual Community.