Is the chronicity of HIV/AIDS fragile? Biomedicine, politics and sociability in an online social network

Abstract

Objective: to understand how the relationships between chronicity and politics shape sociability and mutual help among people living with HIV/AIDS. Method: This is a virtual ethnography in a closed group on Facebook. To collect the information, on-line participant observation and documental analysis were utilized. 37 posts were analyzed using the software NVivo 12 Pro and the thematic coding technique. Results: Two thematic categories emerged: Do the treatment and time will take care of the rest: Mutual help and HIV/AIDS as a chronic condition; and Yes, there is danger around the corner, my dear: Politics, conflicts and sociability in the group. The most relevant aspect of this study concerns the evidence of the fragility of the discourse on the chronicity of HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: Through the analysis of sociability and mutual help produced among the members of the investigated group, it was possible to apprehend the ways in which, in their experiences on living with HIV/AIDS as a chronic condition, the relationships between health-disease, politics and time showed the dependence between chronicity and the State, and its impacts on daily life.