How do E-patients connect online? A study of social support roles in health social networking

Abstract

E-patients use online support communities as a way to meet other patients who have experienced or are currently undergoing similar health issues. In these communities they either seek social support or provide social support. This study incorporates the blockmodeling research technique for graphically representing the community member interactions as social positions in order to provide a clear picture of the network's social structure. This analysis views network data from six lenses to compare three different computer-mediated communication formats (forum information, journal informational, notes informational, forum nurturant, journal nurturant, notes nurturant). Results show that forum users are more likely to only be in the position of receiving or offering support, while journal users are often straddling both roles. Notes users tend to be recipients of messages. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.