1,417 research outputs found

    Using nicknames, pseudonyms and avatars on HeartNET: A snapshot of an online health support community

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    Cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability for the ageing Australian population. During recovery from a heart event, many people seek an alternative to traditional support groups and look to the Internet and World Wide Web to establish a connection with others who have had a similar experience. HeartNET provides just such an alternative support structure for anyone affected by heart disease. One issue faced by members of any online support community is whether to remain anonymous by using pseudonyms, nicknames or avatars or whether to accept a certain level of risk, usually in contravention of the site’s guidelines, and reveal personal information in what is really the public domain The authors found that when nicknames and avatars are used they can become part of the member’s persona and facilitate emotional recognition as names do, thus becoming a way for others to make contact. Using the same nickname over time can facilitate authentic exchanges. Although the use of pseudonyms is recommended as a way of protecting anonymity, the authors’ research of HeartNET reveals that ethical issues for both the moderator and participants continually arise, and are not easily resolved

    Negotiating conflict and negativity in an online\ud Community for recovering heart pateints

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    When an online community has been set up to support members living\ud with heart disease, it has a responsibility to provide a safe environment in terms of\ud emotional security and accurate health information. Unfortunately, in online\ud communities as in communities generally, relationships developed among\ud members can sometimes go awry. Situations can arise where private exchanges\ud between members exacerbate public discord and conflict erupts: occasionally with\ud both sides having legitimate reason to feel aggrieved. At this point, a usually selfregulating community can polarise and request the moderator's intervention. What\ud happens when the moderator is perceived to be doing nothing about the situation\ud and members of the community take matters into their own hands? This paper\ud discusses the implications and challenges of conflict in a therapeutic community.\ud It acknowledges that sometimes the situation can be too complex for simple\ud resolution and that in such circumstances, one or both of the conflicted parties\ud may have to withdraw from the site for a period of time

    Sustaining online communities in the charitable health sector: how to keep a good thing going

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    What happens when an online community part-funded by a competitive grant process in partnership with a relevant charitable organisation reaches its use-by date? What reasons might an organisation have for continuing (or not) to support the community and its future development? How is ‘ownership’ transferred from the research institution to the not-forprofit organisation, along with any possible risks? These are all good questions: not least because it seems that most communities in this position are not ‘adopted’ by their not-forprofit sponsors, but languish on the sidelines waiting for a benefactor to pick up the potential costs and risks. This paper explores the Australian experience of forming online communities to support notfor- profit organisations’ user populations, and then finding the sponsoring organisation hesitating to adopt the project after the research has successfully demonstrated need and demand. It identifies drivers and inhibitors affecting the decision to support, neglect or abandon online communities

    Self-revelation in an online health community: Exploring issues around co-presence for vulnerable members

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    Problem: This paper addresses the implications of working with vulnerable groups in the context of an online health community when members move from co-presence online to co-presence offline. Theoretical Approach: The case study presented in this paper challenges the expectation that self-revelations are usually more common in online environments because of the anonymity and comfort experienced there. Methodology: Taking as its example the events in a research project designed to investigate the relative features of online communities and social network sites by using a ‘netnographic’ approach, this paper examines the introduction of live chat sessions with a view to building social and emotional involvement in community members who had been, to that point, somewhat disengaged. Findings: On the fourth live chat, shortly before Christmas, one community member suggested that they meet for a meal, effectively moving the co-presence from the online community into the offline world. This duly occurred the following week, but the situation did not develop as the research team members had envisioned and instead they found themselves dealing with a member who, in person, was revealed to be feeling suicidal. Conclusion: Addressing the case study in terms of the implications of co-presence and self-revelation in research settings, this paper goes on to describe the changes in policy and process instigated by the support organisation to prepare for other possible events of this nature

    Fandom and beyond: online community, culture and Kevin Smith fandom

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    Fan studies literature has frequently been pervaded by the prevailing assumptions of what constitutes “fans” and their associated activities: fan art or fantext, cosplay, conjecture, activism – the things that fans supposedly do by definition –are those to which scholarly attention has most been paid. Yet the assumption that fandom can be defined by such explicit practices can be dangerous because of the subjective nature of respective fan cultures. Presenting a fan culture that questions the “assumed” nature of fandom and fan practices, this thesis is an examination of the fans of filmmaker and comedian Kevin Smith, investigating the ways in which community members negotiate and categorise their fandom and relationships with both each other and a communicative, media-literate producer. Since 1995, the View Askew Message Board has provided a dialogical, communicative platform for fans of Kevin Smith to define themselves as a collective group – or more frequently – a community. Through autoethnographic discussion, as well as qualitative research conducted both online and in person, this examination of users of the Board considers the nature of audience-producer relations, the intersection between on- and offline fannish and communal practices, and the extent to which the identity of “Kevin Smith fan” can be attributed within alternate contexts of fan productivity and (non) communal practice. Contextualised by ongoing scholar-fan debate (Hills 2002; Gray et al. 2011), this thesis interrogates notions of fan practice, community, and classification, proposing further methodological and ethical considerations of the research of both explicit and implicit “fannish” practices. Through a netnographic framework (Kozinets 2010), this thesis is able to present a participatory approach to the study of online cultures, looking at how producer and fans simultaneously inhabit and inform the same cultural sphere, and how such practices help to inform a community’s perception of their own fan culture

    Encouraging Trust and Cooperation in Digital Negotiations

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    One of the most important issues in modern society is how society modifies the way in which its members develop relationships and foster cooperation in the face of new communication technologies. I explore theoretical and empirical parameters of this process and their implications for encouraging trust and cooperation in negotiations. I begin with an argument for the role of trust and cooperation as part of the foundation of digital commerce by expanding the reach of the social contract theory (ISCT) of Donaldson and Dunfee (1994; 1999). I argue that a digital community is a community in the ISCT sense, and that the basic framework of ISCT can apply to the digital business world. I then analyze the roles of trust and cooperation within this framework, explaining their moral relevance for e-commerce. I follow this discussion with two empirical papers to begin to uncover the nature of digital norms. In Negotiating with the Millennial Generation I use a series of behavioral studies and online chat analyses to show that people build trusting relationships online, often resulting in more cooperation than when they talk face to face. I then look at what type of texting creates stronger relationships, showing that longer texting conversations that go beyond small talk generated greater trust and rapport. I also use a behavioral study involving a smartphone application to discuss how over time people learn to use new forms of communication to build trusting relationships through digital media. In the third paper Why the F*** Don\u27t They TRUST I develop the notion that particular behaviors can affect online trust development. Using analyses of online texts and additional behavioral studies I show how norm-defying online incivility decreases trust while norm-abiding use of capital letters does not. I show that encouraging people to abide by civility norms develops more trusting and cooperative online environments

    Just a “Click” away from evidence-based online breast cancer information, advice and support provided by a specialist nurse: An ethnonetnographic study

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    Breast cancer has had, and will continue to have, a devastating impact on the lives of many Australian women, their families, friends and the wider community. The concomitant treatment of this disease places a considerable burden on the health care system and the supporters of the person diagnosed with this disease. While there are many government and non-government organisations that provide treatment and support services for the person with breast cancer, these services are usually provided in person either in the home or at the organisation’s offices. This study extended the information advice and support aspects of these services to the online or Internet based realm via the design and development of a breast cancer focused online support community www.breastcancerclick.com.au and explored the role of the expert nurse through the employment of a specialist breast care nurse as a member, moderator and health professional within this online community. This study used an ethnonetnographic approach, including online (on the Internet) and offline (face-to-face) methods, to explore the role of the specialist breast care nurse within the online, breast cancer support, community. The study was comprised of three phases, Phase One, the offline and online identification of the information, advice and support needs of Western Australian women with breast cancer and their Internet use; development of a website designed to meet those needs and to foster the development of an online support community; Phase Two, the employment and introduction of a specialist breast care nurse as a member and provider of evidence-based information, advice and support for online community members; Phase Three, the online and offline collection of data relevant to the role of the specialist breast care nurse within the online support community. The identification of the expert nurse as a linchpin in the patient’s care and communication has implications for future nursing practice and curricula as well as consumers of health care. Recommendations arose from the findings in relation to further research, nursing practice, education these recommendations indicate an innovative extension to expert nursing practice and together the elementary guidelines for health professional when developing an illness specific online support community foreshadow a future direction for nursing, in line with the digital age

    Fracking the online: An exploration of the digital in shaping contention over shale gas

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    This thesis applies a post-political lens to online activity on shale gas, using Lancashire, England as its case study. Its focus is upon the ways in which online activity may both contribute to, and constrain, the expression of dissent. It argues there is a dual gap in the current literature: empirically, in considering how online activity may be influencing the development of the debate and theoretically, in how we conceive of conflict over shale gas. It seeks to address these gaps using a combination of 37 stakeholder interviews and social media postings from anti-shale gas groups. The first results chapter draws from post-political theory to build a framework through which to understand the conflict over shale gas in England. It identifies three main areas of dispute: over the legitimate modes for public participation in the debate; over the scope of the threat presented by development, and over the credibility of existing knowledge on shale gas. The second results chapter uses this framework to consider the role of online information in the developing dispute. It shows how a lack of technical information led to an online information divide which constrained how the dominant institutional actors engaged online. Anti-shale gas campaigners remained relatively unconstrained but the substantial burden of online activism contributed towards perceptions of disempowerment, spurring a move to direct action. The third results chapter applies a collective action frame analysis to social media postings aimed at mobilising supporters to take part in direct action. It argues that while mobilising on social media has significant advantages for campaigners, it also has the potential to dilute a movement’s messages amidst pressure to maintain local approbation. The apparent paradoxical effects of digitally mediated activism and the implications for practice and theory are discussed in the final chapter, alongside recommendations for future research.

    The search for alternative knowledge in the post-truth era: Anti-vaccine mobilization during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey

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    The search for alternative knowledge, conspiracy theories, distrust of expertise and anti-science movements are gaining momentum and post-truth populism is speeding up on the back of fake news. The crisis of truth refers to an era where evidence and objective facts get lost in sentiment, emotion, and personal beliefs. Relying on emotions, creationism, religious beliefs, and common sense over expertise deliberately creates counter-knowledge referred to as pseudo-science, troll-science or fake-science. As the worth of scientific expertise is devalued, the counter-scientific discourses supported through populist political rhetoric help to produce a culture of resistance to science. Our qualitative content analysis of Twitter posts along with the news regarding anti-vaccine arguments from two selected online news sites, revealed three major themes, which we referred to as strategies used by the COVID-19 vaccine deniers in Turkey to disseminate their views. These were: an emphasis on bodily freedom and personal choice and the use of “my body my choice” rhetoric; the denying, devaluing, and shifting of scientific evidence; and the dismissal and/or attacking of alternative views and the deepening of the polarisation between the supporters of the COVID-19 restrictions, vaccine supporters and deniers. We conclude the paper by arguing that there is a link between the distrust of doctors and the anti-vaccination ideas, and the quest for alternative knowledge and expert authority.publishedVersio
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