Vlogging Cancer Experiences After a Diagnosis: Investigating the Significant Changes in Disease Course

Abstract

Previous research has shown that social media platforms afford cancer patients an opportunity to manage their treatment issues. However, limited research has examined personal experiences that cancer patients authentically share through short videos. This study analyses 114 online short videos to examine a colon cancer patient’s (A’Jian) personal experience. Drawing on the concept of the ‘disease course’, which is extended from the life course theory, the analysis reveals that a patient’s physical space and social space have been impaired brutally by the incurable disease cancer. This study unpacks the fundamental dilemmas of a cancer patient by focusing on changes in the disease course afforded by short videos, moving beyond a temporal analytical angle. In addition, this study contributes fresh insights to the intersection of social media and health communication by investigating how short videos afford cancer narratives in the TikTok (short video) era, which provides a new research path on the affordances of visible short videos for future health-related research.