Producing, ratifying, and resisting support in an online support forum

Kaufman, Samantha; Whitehead, Kevin A.

doi:10.1177/1363459315628043

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Numerous users tagged supportive statements to longer posts or posted purely to convey sympathy or empathy for the OP. Previous research has explored the provision of support in health forums, quantifying the number of supportive posts and their nature [ 32 , 40 , 41 ]. In our forums, the proportion of supportive posts was outweighed by the number of informative posts fitting the previously reported trends.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Use of Online Health Forums by Patients With Chronic Cough: Qualitative Study

Sinha¹,

Porter²,

Wilson³

2018

J Med Internet Res

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BackgroundOnline health discussion forums are used by different patient groups for sharing advice and information. Chronic cough is a common problem, and people with chronic cough use online health forums alongside formal medical therapies.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to assess how chronic cough sufferers use online health forums, including the treatment advice they share with one another and the possible clinical uses of online forums in chronic cough.MethodsThree open-access health forums were searched for threads related to chronic cough. Identified threads were screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria adapted from the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Guidelines related to chronic cough diagnosis. Included data were subjected to qualitative thematic analysis. All study data were cross-validated by a second author and discrepancies were resolved.ResultsIn total, 96 threads were included in the analysis, consisting of posts by 223 forum users. Three main themes were identified: the effect of chronic cough on the lives of patients, the treatment advice shared between users, and the provision of support within forums.ConclusionsChronic cough symptoms had impacts on multiple aspects of patients’ health and well-being. To try and combat these issues, forum users suggested a variety of treatments to one another, ranging from mainstream traditional therapies to odd alternative remedies. The provision of support and empathy were also prominent themes in discussion threads. Online forums themselves may provide increasing benefit to users through the addition of a moderator.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also identified the methods used to convey this support. Users often recounted their own similar experiences when conveying empathy, a mechanism identified in other health forum studies [ 19 , 32 ]. Humor was very rarely used, highlighting that online health forums for cough are a platform for serious discussion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Online Health Forums by Patients With Chronic Cough: Qualitative Study

Sinha¹,

Porter²,

Wilson³

2018

J Med Internet Res

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“…As a method of capturing data on health attitudes and behaviour, the online forum offers considerable advantages, including access to large numbers of prospective participants with the potential for open and honest discussions. 8 9 20 21 Such forums have been used previously in healthcare research 22 across a range of health domains. 23–26 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online stroke forum as source of data for qualitative research: insights from a comparison with patients’ interviews

et al. 2018

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ObjectiveTo determine the appropriateness of an online forum compared with face-to-face interviews as a source of data for qualitative research on adherence to secondary prevention medications after stroke.DesignA comparison of attributes of two data sources, interviews and a forum, using realistic evaluation; a comparison of themes around adherence according to the Perceptions and Practicalities Approach (PAPA) framework.SettingInterviews were conducted in UK GP practices in 2013 and 2014; online posts were written by UK stroke survivors and family members taking part in the online forum of the Stroke Association between 2004 and 2011.Participants42 interview participants: 28 stroke survivors (age range 61–92 years) and 14 caregivers (85% spouses). 84 online forum participants: 49 stroke survivors (age range 32–72 years) and 33 caregivers (60% sons/daughters).Results10 attributes were identified within the two data sources and categorised under three domains (context, mechanisms and outcomes). Participants’ characteristics of forum users were often missing. Most forum participants had experienced a stroke within the previous 12 months, while interviewees had done so 1–5 years previously.All interview themes could be matched with corresponding themes from the forum. The forum yielded three additional themes: influence of bad press on taking statins, criticisms of clinicians’ prescribing practices and caregiver burden in assisting with medications and being advocates for survivors with healthcare professionals.ConclusionsAn online forum is an appropriate source of data for qualitative research on patients’ and caregivers’ issues with adherence to secondary prevention stroke medications and may offer additional insights compared with interviews, which can be attributed to differences in the approach to data collection.

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“…While this does not imply that there are no ethical issues involved in using these interactions as research data (see, e.g., Jowett, 2015), our use of the interactions without seeking informed consent from all users (which would not be feasible) is consistent with currently available ethical guidelines in this regard (e.g., BPS, 2013). It is noteworthy that any potential risk of harm to participants as a result of using the data for research purposes is no greater than the potential risks associated with any other use, as a result of being publicly available (see, e.g., Kaufman & Whitehead, 2016). In addition to the naturally occurring anonymity of the initial posts (as described above) ensuring that the identities of these posters are not revealed, we have redacted the pictures and other identifiers associated with the anonymous posts in order to anonymize the universities associated with the sites we sampled.…”

Section: Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Confessing sex in online student communities

Dominguez-Whitehead

Whitehead

Bowman

2017

Discourse, Context & Media

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In this paper, we examine Facebook "Confessions" sites associated with two large universities (one North American and one South African) to investigate the ways in which students interactionally negotiate normativity in discussions initiated by confessions relating to sex. The research is grounded in a Foucauldian framework that emphasizes the centrality of sex and sexuality. Our findings focus on two interrelated aspects of the data. The first concerns the features of the initial (anonymous) confessional posts, and the second relates to subsequent comments on the initial post. Close examination of initial posts offers insights into participants' orientations to sexual acts, situations and beliefs that are treated as either normative or transgressive. Subsequent comments posted by participants reveal ways in which the "confessability" of confessions is interactionally ratified or contested. The findings thus demonstrate some ways in which normative sexuality is (re)produced, ratified, and contested within student online communities.

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Producing, ratifying, and resisting support in an online support forum

Cited by 25 publications

References 33 publications

The Use of Online Health Forums by Patients With Chronic Cough: Qualitative Study

The Use of Online Health Forums by Patients With Chronic Cough: Qualitative Study

Online stroke forum as source of data for qualitative research: insights from a comparison with patients’ interviews

Confessing sex in online student communities

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