Hwang, Sohyeon, and Jeremy D. Foote. "Why do people participate in small online communities?." Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5.CSCW2 (2021): 1-25.

This study explores the role and appeal of persistently small online communities within the larger ecosystem of Reddit, a platform known for its vast array of user-created communities. Through twenty qualitative interviews, the research uncovers that small communities offer unique informational and interactional spaces, driven by hyper-specific interests, fostering a group-based identity rather than strong individual relationships. These communities are integral to users' strategies for curating their online experiences. The findings suggest that online communities function as nested niches within a complex, symbiotic socio-informational ecosystem, prompting a reevaluation of success beyond mere size and advocating for research that considers the interdependence between different scales of community sizes.