Requesting and providing information in blogs and internet discussion forums

Abstract

Purpose -The major aim of this study is to find out whether people articulate their information needs and provide information to others differently in online sites of various types, more specifically, blogs and Internet discussion forums. Design/methodology/approach -The study is based on the analysis of ten blogs and 40 threads of Suomi24, a Finnish Internet discussion forum. The blogs and discussion threads focus on the same topic, that is, coping with depression. For the study, 1044 blog postings, 1727 bloggers´ and blog readers´ comments and 1236 messages written by the discussion forum participants were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Findings -The bloggers, blog readers and discussion group participants mainly articulated needs related to getting an opinion or evaluation of an issue, while needs for factual information and procedural information about possible ways of action were presented less frequently. Information provision drew strongly on the use of personal knowledge. There were no remarkable differences between the types of online sites with regard to the articulation of information needs and using sources for providing information to others. Research limitations/implications -The findings are based on the analysis of a limited number of Finnish blogs and discussion threads in the field of coping with depression. Thus, the findings cannot be generalized to all online forums of these kinds. Practical implications -Blogs and Internet discussion forums provide useful sites to pose questions for online contributors and to get opinions as well as factual information about the ways to cope with depression. Originality/value -The study is unique in that it compares information needs and information provision in online sites of various types.

Knowledge generation in online forums: a case study in the German educational domain

“…Evaluation and application of knowledge are important dimensions. Therefore, this research adds to results of Savolainen (2011b) focusing on factual answers on a topical level and the needs also aiming for suggestions and uncertainty reduction, then we see that the majority of the pragmatically more "simple" needs get solved, whereas the more complex ones got a much lower success rate. Our results here are limited because the category gratitude is a dichotomous trait and needs to be explicitly stated.…”

“…Results of the investigation of Savolainen (2011b) suggest that forums may serve as appropriate places for "presenting questions to potential helpers". The author investigated a Finnish discussion forum and 10 blogs focusing on the topic depression.…”

The use of rhetorical strategies in Q&A discussion

“…The active answerers (10+ messages) wrote altogether 40.9% of all answers. Thus, similar online forums of other types, for example, discussion groups, a handful of active participants produce a disproportionate share of messages (Savolainen, 2011).…”

They Have Needs, They Have Goals: Using Communication Theories to Explain Health-Related Social Media Use and Health Behavior Change

“…In addition, health-related groups with hundreds and sometimes thousands of participants have been established on Facebook, Twitter [9,27] and dedicated forums [28]. In these online spaces, individuals contact others who have or had similar health issues [27].…”