abstract

Social Support in Online Health Communities: A Social-Network Approach

Authors:

Srikanth Parameswaran,

Rajiv KishoreAuthors Info & Claims

SIGMIS-CPR'18: Proceedings of the 2018 ACM SIGMIS Conference on Computers and People Research

Pages 93 - 94

https://doi.org/10.1145/3209626.3209725

Published: 18 June 2018 Publication History

Get Access

Abstract

We develop a social network based model of user-generated content (social support) in online health communities. Grounded in the social presence and the social network theories, we hypothesize the differential impacts of an online health community member's brokerage and influence in the web-of-support on a) extent of social support, and two self-absorption linguistic features namely b) self-focused and c) socially-focused words in social support text. Variables were operationalized using text mining and social network analyses. We empirically tested our model using panel-data collected from an online health community for diabetics. Higher brokerage results in more support from the member; however, the marginal effect is decreasing. Higher influence results in reduced support; however, the effect is increasing at higher levels. Higher brokerage and influence results in more socially-focused support; however, the marginal effect is decreasing. Higher brokerage and influence results in less self-focused support; however, the marginal effect is increasing.

References

[1]

Merolli, M., Gray, K., and Martin-Sanchez, F. (2013). Health outcomes and related effects of using social media in chronic disease management: a literature review and analysis of affordances. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 46(6), 957--969.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[2]

Goh, J. M., Guodong (Gordon) Gao, and Agarwal, R. (2016). The Creation of Social Value: Can an Online Health Community Reduce Rural-Urban Health Disparities? MIS Quarterly, 40(1), 247--263.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[3]

Yan, L., and Tan, Y. (2014). Feeling blue? Go online: an empirical study of social support among patients. Information Systems Research, 25(4), 690--709.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[4]

Pennebaker, J.W., Booth, R.J., Boyd, R.L., and Francis, M.E. (2015). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC2015. Austin, TX: Pennebaker Conglomerates

Google Scholar

[5]

Short, J., Williams, E., and Christie, B. (1976). The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. London: John Wiley & Sons.

Google Scholar

[6]

Goes, P. B., Lin, M., and Au Yeung, C. M. (2014). "Popularity effect" in user-generated content: evidence from online product reviews. Information Systems Research, 25(2), 222--238.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[7]

Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). The Evolution and Influence of Social Presence Theory on Online Learning. Social Computing: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, 113.

Google Scholar

[8]

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., and Archer, W. (1999). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The internet and higher education, 2(2), 87--105.

Google Scholar

[9]

Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American journal of sociology, 94, S95-S120.

Google Scholar

[10]

Burt, R. S. 1992. Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Google Scholar

[11]

Borgatti, S. P. (2005). Centrality and network flow. Social networks, 27(1), 55--71.

Google Scholar

[12]

Wasko, M. M., and Faraj, S. (2005). Why should I share? Examining social capital and knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice. MIS quarterly, 35--57.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[13]

Zhou, J., Shin, S. J., Brass, D. J., Choi, J., and Zhang, Z. X. (2009). Social networks, personal values, and creativity: evidence for curvilinear and interaction effects. Journal of applied psychology, 94(6), 1544.

Crossref

Google Scholar

Cited By

View all

Pater JCoupe ANova FPfafman RCarroll JBrouwer ABohn CLi JTodd NChang FGuha S(2023)Social Media is not a Health Proxy: Differences Between Social Media and Electronic Health Record Reports of Post-COVID SymptomsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35796247:CSCW1(1-25)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3579624
Yao ZNi ZZhang BDu J(2022)Do Informational and Emotional Elements Differ between Online Psychological and Physiological Disease Communities in China? A Comparative Study of Depression and DiabetesInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health10.3390/ijerph1904216719:4(2167)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2022
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042167
Nikkhah SUday Rode AKulkarni NMittal PMueller EMiller A(2022)Designing for Families as Adaptive Systems: Collaborative Emotional Support and Resilience in the Children's HospitalExtended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491101.3519787(1-8)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3491101.3519787
Show More Cited By

Recommendations

Effect of writing style on social support in online health communities: A theoretical linguistic analysis framework
Abstract
In online health communities (OHCs), patients can exchange social support through text-based communication. However, research on how various linguistic characteristics of patients' communication in these communities affect their social ...
How self-disclosure builds cancer communities through authentic stories on YouTube: Mediating role of user participation in self-disclosure reciprocity
Abstract
Self-disclosure is a communication strategy widely used to convey authentic personal experiences among video bloggers (vloggers) on YouTube. While self-disclosure plays a vital role in attracting viewers, whether self-disclosure enables vlog ...
Highlights
- Self-disclosure for video blogging (vlogging) allows unique community interactions in YouTube communities.
- We explored the role of member contribution in reciprocity of self-disclosure in cancer vlog communities on YouTube.
- We ...
Developing online health communities through digital media

Twenty-first century's advancement in information technologies and the emergence of online communities have considerably influenced the online communication channels between patients and health service providers. Online health communities are now ...

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

SIGMIS-CPR'18: Proceedings of the 2018 ACM SIGMIS Conference on Computers and People Research

June 2018

216 pages

ISBN:9781450357685

DOI:10.1145/3209626

General Chairs:
Rajiv Kishore
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
,
Daniel Beimborn
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Germany
,
Rajendra K. Bandi
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India
,
Program Chairs:
Benoit Aubert
Dalhousie University, Canada
,
Deborah Compeau
Washington State University, USA
,
Monideepa Tarafdar
Lancaster University, UK

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 18 June 2018

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Abstract

Conference

SIGMIS-CPR '18

Sponsor:

SIGMIS

SIGMIS-CPR '18: 2018 Computers and People Research Conference

June 18 - 20, 2018

NY, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, USA

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 300 of 480 submissions, 63%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

5
Total Citations
View Citations
211
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)15
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0

Reflects downloads up to 12 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

Pater JCoupe ANova FPfafman RCarroll JBrouwer ABohn CLi JTodd NChang FGuha S(2023)Social Media is not a Health Proxy: Differences Between Social Media and Electronic Health Record Reports of Post-COVID SymptomsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35796247:CSCW1(1-25)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3579624
Yao ZNi ZZhang BDu J(2022)Do Informational and Emotional Elements Differ between Online Psychological and Physiological Disease Communities in China? A Comparative Study of Depression and DiabetesInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health10.3390/ijerph1904216719:4(2167)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2022
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042167
Nikkhah SUday Rode AKulkarni NMittal PMueller EMiller A(2022)Designing for Families as Adaptive Systems: Collaborative Emotional Support and Resilience in the Children's HospitalExtended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491101.3519787(1-8)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3491101.3519787
Liu YHuang WLuo D(2021)The reception of support in peer-to-peer online networks: Network position, support solicitation, and support provision in an online asthma caregivers groupHealth Informatics Journal10.1177/1460458221106602028:1Online publication date: 15-Dec-2021
https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582211066020
Nikkhah SJohn SYalamarti KL. Mueller ED. Miller A(2021)Helping Their Child, Helping Each Other:Companion Publication of the 2021 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing10.1145/3462204.3481759(140-143)Online publication date: 23-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3462204.3481759

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Cited By

Recommendations

Effect of writing style on social support in online health communities: A theoretical linguistic analysis framework

How self-disclosure builds cancer communities through authentic stories on YouTube: Mediating role of user participation in self-disclosure reciprocity

Developing online health communities through digital media