Social Network Structure of a Large Online Community for Smoking Cessation

Abstract

Objectives We evaluated the social network structure of QuitNet, one of the largest online communities for behavior change, and compared its characteristics to other known social networks. Methods Using modern network analysis methods, we identified QuitNet members who were active during a 60-day period, along with their ties. We then derived multiple subgroups, such as key players and integrators, from connections and communication patterns. Results Among 7569 participants, we identified 103592 connections to other members. Metrics of social network integration were associated with increased likelihood of being female, being older, having been in the system longer, and not smoking. Conclusions The QuitNet community is a large-scale social network with the characteristics required for sustainability of social support and social influence to promote smoking cessation and abstinence. These characteristics include persistence of members over time, heterogeneity of smoking status, and evidence of rich, bidirectional communications. Some of the influential subgroups we identified may provide targets for future network-level interventions.

Internet and Telephone Treatment for Smoking Cessation: Mediators and Moderators of Short-Term Abstinence

“…18 QuitNet incorporates evidence-based elements of tobacco dependence treatment 20 including practical counseling for cessation, pharmacotherapy information, and intratreatment social support through a large online social network. 21 Participants randomized to EI + P also had 6-month free access to QuitNet plus five proactive telephone counseling calls provided by National Jewish Health. Participants randomized to BI had 6-month free access to an information-only comparison condition comprised of the major content on QuitNet: information about cessation ("Quitting Guide") and pharmacotherapy ("Medication Guide"), a directory of national cessation programs, and a 10-year database of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).…”

Social Networks and the Risk of Gunshot Injury

“…Indeed, research suggests that gun violence is intensely concentrated within high-risk populations. 10,11 For example, recent studies in Boston found that from 1980 to 2008, only 5 % of city block faces and street corners experienced 74 % of gun assault incidents 12 and that 50 % of homicide and nearly 75 % of gun assaults were driven by less than 1 % of the city's youth population (aged [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], most of whom were gang involved and chronic offenders. 13 To better understand how gunshot injury is distributed within highrisk populations, we conducted a study to determine whether the risk of gunshot victimization is related to characteristics of one's social networks.…”

“…[14][15][16][17] There are several reasons why the risk of gunshot victimization is related to one's social network. First, interpersonal violence tends to occur between people who know each other suggesting that the context of social relationships is important in understanding the dynamics of gun violence.…”

You Get What You Give: Understanding Reply Reciprocity and Social Capital in Online Health Support Forums

“…However, few studies have investigated the interactive and reciprocal nature of support exchange in online support forums (e.g., Cobb, Graham, & Abrams, 2010;Manago, Taylor, & Greenfield, 2012). Drawing on the theoretical framework of social capital and adopting social network analysis, the current study examines the reciprocal nature of communication in online support forums.…”