Users’ Continued Usage of Online Healthcare Virtual Communities: An Empirical Investigation in the Context of HIV Support Communities

This study uses data from an online HIV/AIDS health support virtual community to examine whether users’ emotional states and the social support they receive influence their continued usage. We adopt grief theory to conceptualize the negative emotions that people living with HIV/AIDS could experience. Linguistic analysis is used to measure the emotional states of the users and the informational and emotional support that they receive. Results show that users showing a higher level of disbelief and yearning are more likely to leave the community while those with a high level of anger and depression are more likely to stay on. Users who receive more informational support are more likely to leave once they have obtained the information they sought, but those who receive more emotional support are more likely to stay on. The findings of this study can help us better understand users’ support seeking behavior in online support VCs

Rights Defence (weiquan), Microblogs (weibo), and Popular Surveillance (weiguan)

The rise of China’s rights defence movement has occurred in tandem with the rapid development of the Internet in China. Various forms of rights defence inside and outside of the courtroom have emerged and developed alongside changes to China’s ideological, political, and legal systems and social structure. Similarly, Internet technology such as microblogs and other social media are enriching the modalities of activity in the rights defence movement, enhancing the mobilisation capacity of activists, and accelerating the systematisation of popular rights defence, profoundly affecting China’s ongoing political transformation

An analysis of anxiety-related postings on sina weibo

This study examines anxiety-related postings on Sina Weibo to gain insight into social networking about mental health. The themes of a random sample of anxiety-related postings (n = 1000) were assessed. The disclosure of anxiety was the most common theme. The prevalence of anxiety was higher in certain areas where the economy is stronger than others, and the people living there suffered from more stress. Users who talked about feeling anxious tended to be more active on social media during leisure hours and less active during work hours. Our findings may be developed to detect and help individuals who may suffer from anxiety disorders at a low cost.The authors acknowledge the support from the Harbin Institute of Technology’s Visiting Scholar Program and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 71531013)

Individual rights and government control: A qualitative study of China\u27s censorship

China\u27s Internet has been the subject of much public debate as to whether it has contributed to political change and the progress of individual rights in China. It is hard to ignore the extent to which government control is widely applied online in a variety of ways while discussing the Internet in China. Censorship has had a tremendous impact on China\u27s Internet and has also become an unavoidable topic in public discourse regarding the development of the Internet in China, because it has turned into an inseparable part of China\u27s Internet. This study aims to explore the online experience of Chinese individuals with censorship in China. A case study of the Wukan Protests was used to reveal the practical application of censorship on China\u27s Internet in terms of political news reporting. Additionally, 12 interviews were conducted to try and determine Chinese individuals\u27 awareness and perspectives about how censorship works in their daily lives. The findings of this study indicate that the open and effective censorship in China impacts participants\u27 attitudes toward media when it comes to news reporting. The findings showed that interviewees tend to critically and selectively view political news both online and offline. It was also found that Chinese Internet users who have experienced the effects of the Great Firewall may develop high levels of self-efficacy in determining media credibility with respect to political news reporting

Transforming HIV Prevention & Care for Marginalised Populations: using information & communication technologies (ICTs) in community-based & led approaches

[Extract] Information and communication technology (ICT) is transforming community-based and community-led HIV prevention and care services for gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people. This book celebrates and shares crucial work of frontline HIV workers, activists, researchers and educators whom are using innovative ICT. The book builds on, and extends the work included in two earlier issues of Digital Culture & Education (DCE), entitled 'Prevention is a solution: Building the HIVe'(Singh and Walsh, 2012) and 'Innovative programmatic approaches to HIV prevention and care services for gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender persons using information and communication technology (ICT)'(Adams, Klindera, Walsh and Wolf, 2014). It also includes three additional articles published by the journal

Transforming HIV Prevention & Care for Marginalised Populations: using information & communication technologies (ICTs) in community-based & led approaches

[Extract] Information and communication technology (ICT) is transforming community-based and community-led HIV prevention and care services for gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people. This book celebrates and shares crucial work of frontline HIV workers, activists, researchers and educators whom are using innovative ICT. The book builds on, and extends the work included in two earlier issues of Digital Culture & Education (DCE), entitled 'Prevention is a solution: Building the HIVe'(Singh and Walsh, 2012) and 'Innovative programmatic approaches to HIV prevention and care services for gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender persons using information and communication technology (ICT)'(Adams, Klindera, Walsh and Wolf, 2014). It also includes three additional articles published by the journal

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR HEALTH-RELATED PURPOSES ON WEIBO IN CHINA

This study explores how people with medical concerns seek and perceive social support via Weibo—a social network site in China. The study conducts both a content analysis and an in-depth interview for a comprehensive understanding of the nature of social support on Weibo. Altogether 2548 postings and replies from four Weibo support groups—the Breast Cancer Group, the Arthritis Group, Baby Eczema Group and Children’s Health Group—were categorized into 9 types with a deductive thematic analysis; twenty participants from these four Weibo groups were recruited in the in-depth interview to explore how people seek and perceive social support from Weibo. Weibo stands out as a platform for people to exchange social support for its convenience, multiple functions, and strong ability to connect each other. Though there are some disadvantages of Weibo social support identified by Weibo users, they can, to some extent, be avoided and reduced under appropriate administration

Findings and Ethical Considerations From a Thematic Analysis of Threads Within Tinnitus Online Support Groups

Purpose: Tinnitus is the perception of noise without a corresponding external stimulus. Current management typically aims to moderate associated psychosocial stressors and allow sufferers to retain an adequate quality of life. With the increasing recognition of the Internet as a repository for health advice, information, and support, the online support group has become a popular coping strategy for those living with chronic conditions such as tinnitus. Patients find that communicating with each other, providing encouragement, and sharing information in the absence of physical and temporal boundaries are invaluable ways of managing their condition. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential positive and negative consequences of participating in online support groups for tinnitus.Method: Discussion forum threads were collated from across 4 public online support group websites. All threads were initiated between February and April 2016. Texts from these threads were coded by 3 separate analysts using both inductive and deductive thematic analysis, until data saturation was reached.Results: Analysis of 75 threads (641 individual posts) found 9 independent themes pertaining to aspects of participation in tinnitus online support groups. The results revealed that using the forums allowed users to exchange knowledge and experiences, express complex emotions, profit from a network of support, and engage in everyday conversation away from the burden of their tinnitus. However, some experiences appeared to be compromised by negative messages, limited communication, and informational issues such as conflicting advice or information overload.Conclusions: This study represents the 1st research into discussion forums in tinnitus online support groups. A nonintrusive (passive) analysis method was used, whereby messages comprising the dataset were retrieved without direct interaction with the discussion forum. Individuals and the community of tinnitus online support groups are deemed to be at low risk from potential harm in this study. Most tinnitus patients likely benefit from accessing online support groups, for example, they discover they are not alone, and they find new coping strategies. However, for those who are particularly vulnerable or prone to psychological stress, accessing these groups could be detrimental