# The language and social behavior of innovators

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.09511 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.09511/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 111 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 20 Sep 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Distinctiveness Centrality in Social Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.03391/) (2019)
- [The impact of virtual mirroring on customer satisfaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.09571/) (2021)
- [Forecasting managerial turnover through e-mail based social network analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.09208/) (2021)
- [The power of reciprocal knowledge sharing relationships for startup success](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.11538/) (2021)
- [Personality correlates of key roles in informal advice networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.07740/) (2021)
- [Finding top performers through email patterns analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.13025/) (2021)
- [The digital footprint of innovators: Using email to detect the most creative people in your organization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.10247/) (2021)
- [From words to connections: Word use similarity as an honest signal conducive to employees' digital communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.06133/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- ["I understand your perspective": LLM Persuasion through the Lens of Communicative Action Theory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.08076/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Innovators are creative people who can conjure the ground-breaking ideas that represent the main engine of innovative organizations. Past research has extensively investigated who innovators are and how they behave in work-related activities. In this paper, we suggest that it is necessary to analyze how innovators behave in other contexts, such as in informal communication spaces, where knowledge is shared without formal structure, rules, and work obligations. Drawing on communication and network theory, we analyze about 38,000 posts available in the intranet forum of a large multinational company. From this, we explain how innovators differ from other employees in terms of social network behavior and language characteristics. Through text mining, we find that innovators write more, use a more complex language, introduce new concepts/ideas, and use positive but factual-based language. Understanding how innovators behave and communicate can support the decision-making processes of managers who want to foster innovation.