Everyday health information exchange and citation behaviour in Internet discussion groups

Abstract

Internet health discussion groups form virtual communities, where people look for both health information and emotional support as a part of an everyday life information-seeking practice. This study reports the information-oriented behaviour of participants discussing general health issues like healthy food, diets and dietary supplements, in support groups for overweight persons, diabetics and vegetarians. The study analyses how the participants refer to health information sources, in order to acquire, disseminate and exchange information within the group, and how this information is assessed by other members of the virtual community. In this analysis of the content and the context of citations and references in 30 newsgroup discussion threads, focusing on health and nutrition, the sources referred to are categorized and discussed. The results show that over 80% of all citations refer to Web sources and that nearly 60% of all citations refer to sources with a scientific medical content. Other sources are diet books, alternative health sites and Web health portals. The citation behaviour and the use of information suggest normative information (citation) behaviour in these information-rich virtual cultures.

Requesting and providing information in blogs and internet discussion forums

“…Savolainen (2001) found that the share of messages indicating information needs in a consumer discussion group was 9 per cent. Wikgren (2003) demonstrated that in health-related Usenet newsgroups about 13 per cent of all postings entailed direct requests for information. In this light, blogs and discussion forums characteristic of Web 2.0 arenas do not essentially differ from the earlier variants of online arenas.…”

“…In addition, the newsgroup served the ends of social companionship support and self-esteem support, that is, encouragement and attempts to bolster the poster's spirits. In a study focusing on 30 discussion threads from the Usenet newsgroups in the field of nutritional matters Wikgren (2003) found that about 13 per cent of all postings entailed direct requests for information. A handful of persons were especially active in passing on advice and references.…”

Knowledge sharing, maintenance, and use in online support communities

“…However, this hesitation may encourage them to cite expert sources or qualify their own experiences so others don't blindly follow thempractices already commonly performed in some OMSC discussions (Galegher et al, 1998;Wikgren, 2003). The lack of technical expertise among OMSC members (as compared to css-d members) could be a problem in contributing to a wiki repository.…”

“…Answerers also frequently recognize that their own experiences may not perfectly apply because of differences in personal characteristics and circumstances (Galegher et al, 1998). In addition, references to other online sources, many of which are from medical experts, are common in some OMSCs (Wikgren, 2003). These are referred to in order to educate, as well as to support an individual's position in a debate (Wikgren, 2001).…”

“…In addition to the question and answer discussions, information is announced and discussed by the group (Burnett, 2000;Wikgren, 2003). Announcements may introduce a relevant new medical journal or news article or a new personal discovery (e.g., "I finally figured out a way to keep my son from being constipated").…”