Sources of Information and Behavioral Patterns in Online Health Forums: Qualitative Study

Abstract

Preliminary analysis showed that users did not stick to the intended forum behavior of discussing exactly one topic in one thread. Instead, they deviated from the original topic over time, sometimes coming back to the original topic. In short, any topic could appear in any thread. Thus, we needed a way to decide for every individual post, whether it was relevant or not. The simplest approach is to scan every post for a set of predefined keywords. However, we assumed that the context of a post also plays a role when determining the relevance of a post. We thus defined an Information Retrieval algorithm, that extends the keyword-based approach by also taking structural (contextual) information of posts into account. (The following is mostly taken from [5].) Reasoning behind the new AlgorithmApproaches based on linguistic features alone can not be expected to perform well. This is because:

Perceptions of Food Hypersensitivity Expertise on Social Media: Qualitative Study (Preprint)

“…Those with healthconcerns are sharing experiences as well as gaining independence and self-sufficiency online [3]. For people caring for loved ones, social networking platforms and forums comprising people in similar circumstances can be a source of reassurance and support [20].…”

“…In today's internet age, people attend to the information they encounter on social media, and seeking and sharing health-related information is common practice [1][2][3]. In situations where there is the possibility of negative health consequences it is important that people are acting on truthful and reliable information.…”

The “New Public” and the “Good Ol’ Press”: Evaluating Online News Sources During the 2013 Polio Outbreak in Israel

“…While there is a growing interest among health agencies and academia in understanding the public's use of online health resources (Bults et al, 2011;Nettleton, Burrows, & O'Malley, 2005;Signorini, Segre, & Polgreen, 2011), research examining the sources of information cited in various online platforms has been limited (Sudau et al, 2014). This gap is perplexing in light of the increasing variety of information sources available and the presumed impact these sources have on health-related decision making (Johnson & Kaye, 2004).…”

“…In particular, online media constitute important sources of health-related information (Tustin, 2010;Vance, Howe, & Dellavalle, 2009), as well as a platform for discussing and sharing personal experiences, opinions and concerns relating to illnesses and treatments (Chew & Eysenbach, 2010). Before the digital age, laypeople depended heavily on health organizations and official sources for health information, but the digital revolution has now opened new alternatives and enabled laypeople to be self-managing, exposing them to a vast variety of additional sources (Sudau et al, 2014). Consequently, this process has contributed to a shift in the perceived role of the public-from passive recipient to active consumer of health information (McMullan, 2006;Sudau et al, 2014).…”

“…Before the digital age, laypeople depended heavily on health organizations and official sources for health information, but the digital revolution has now opened new alternatives and enabled laypeople to be self-managing, exposing them to a vast variety of additional sources (Sudau et al, 2014). Consequently, this process has contributed to a shift in the perceived role of the public-from passive recipient to active consumer of health information (McMullan, 2006;Sudau et al, 2014).…”