Understanding Online Behaviors through a Temporal Lens

Timestamps in digital traces include significant detailed information on when human behaviors occur, which is universally available and standardized in all types of digital traces. Nevertheless, the concept of time is under-explicated in empirical studies of online behaviors. This paper discusses the (un)desirable properties of timestamps in digital traces and summarizes how timestamps in digital traces have been utilized in existing studies of online behaviors. The paper argues that time-in-beh...