Post Your Journey: Instagram as a Support Community for People With Fibromyalgia

Abstract

Fibromyalgia is a chronic illness with primary symptoms of widespread pain and fatigue. Social media applications have become a recent resource allowing individuals with fibromyalgia to interact in a virtual community devoted to the illness. This study explores how such a community develops and maintains itself on Instagram and the ways it creates social capital for its users. Data are derived from Instagram posts and open-ended questionnaires completed by users living with fibromyalgia who use the application. Using content analysis and semiotic methodology, the study analyzes the diverse ways in which users shared their experiences with fibromyalgia, the management of its symptoms, and issues encountered in accessing health care systems. Instagram aids in the development of a community by facilitating intimate and supportive interactions about the illness and the creation of personalized day-to-day narratives accessible to all. Norms of trust, acceptance, and reciprocity characterize the diversity of interactions in this community.

Sexual Harassment in Display Work: The Case of the Modeling Industry

“…Second, transferability is the ability of the findings to be extended to other settings and individuals. Many factors influence the transferability of this study, which again have arisen in similar ways with other scholarship using Instagram data (Berard and Smith 2019;Johansson, Johansson, and Andersson 2018). Some issues in this study are the unknowable motivations and constraints of the participants providing their stories and the period of data collection when the topic of sexual harassment was high on the public agenda that might be unmatched going forward.…”

It’s Not Just a Virus! Lived Experiences of People Diagnosed With COVID-19 Infection in Denmark

“…Other research, therefore, forces health care professionals to take responsibility for providing the correct information and creating effective communication with the citizens to curb this infodemic and mitigate the risk for their inappropriate behavior (Shimizu, 2020; World Health Organization, 2020b). Despite such challenges it is worth noticing how social media also may create a community for the involved individuals (Berard & Smith, 2019).…”

Living With Parkinson’s: The Process of Finding Optimism

“…Although research on chronic illness linking finding meaning with advocacy and giving is lacking, previous research does link performing acts of kindness with an increased sense of well-being (Lyubomirsky, Tkach, & Sheldon, 2004), and finding meaning with better acceptance and adjustment (Yen et al, 2009). Furthermore, participating in an illness community can provide support for self and others (Berard & Smith, 2019). More research is needed to explore how individuals with chronic illness can find optimism through advocacy and giving to others.…”