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A Study of Informational Support Exchanges in MedHelp Alcoholism Community

  • Conference paper
Social Computing, Behavioral - Cultural Modeling and Prediction (SBP 2012)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 7227))

Abstract

E-patients searching for online health information may seek support from the peers in health social media platforms especially when they cannot find the relevant information from authoritative Web sites. Many health social media sites have different ‘architectural elements’ to support the user communication. We seek to understand the relationship between social support and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) formats by comparing the social support types exchanged across multiple CMC formats (forums, journals, and notes) within the same community using descriptive content analysis on three months of data from MedHelp Alcoholism support community to find informational support (i.e. advice, opinions, and personal experiences, etc.). Forums are used for asking general questions related to Alcoholism. Notes are used for maintaining relationships rather than the main source for seeking information. Journal comments are similar to notes, which might indicate that journal readers consider the author as a friend. These descriptive results suggest that users may be initially attracted to the community forums for information seeking yet continue to engage in the online community due to relationships strengthened through journal or note formats.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University, USA

    Katherine Y. Chuang & Christopher C. Yang

Authors
  1. Katherine Y. Chuang
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  2. Christopher C. Yang
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, 14623, Rochester, New York, USA

    Shanchieh Jay Yang

  2. Applied Physics Laboratory, Research and Exploratory Development Department, Johns Hopkings University, 20723, Laurel, MD, USA

    Ariel M. Greenberg

  3. SA Technologies, 3750 Paladian Viillage Drive, Building 600, 30066, Marietta, GA, USA

    Mica Endsley

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Chuang, K.Y., Yang, C.C. (2012). A Study of Informational Support Exchanges in MedHelp Alcoholism Community. In: Yang, S.J., Greenberg, A.M., Endsley, M. (eds) Social Computing, Behavioral - Cultural Modeling and Prediction. SBP 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7227. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29047-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29047-3_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29046-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29047-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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