Fighting Together: Discovering the Antecedents of Social Support and Helpful Discussion Threads in Online Support Forums for Cannabis Quitters

An increasing number of people are using online cannabis support forums as a source of help for their cannabis quit attempts. In order to assist support seekers dealing with emotional and physical-behavioral difficulties associated with their cannabis abstinence, it is important to identify the factors that facilitate social support provisions by forum members, as well as the overall helpfulness of discussion threads. In this combined qualitative and quantitative study, we propose a model hypothesizing and testing these factors, based on variables generated using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning techniques. The result shows that linguistic and content characteristics of thread-initiating messages are important predictors of the receptions of informational and emotional support from other forum members, and of the overall helpfulness of discussion threads

Toward a Framework of Web 2.0-Driven Organizational Learning

During the past few years, Web 2.0 applications have changed the Web from a search tool to a platform for collaboration. Research has also started to show that Web 2.0 applications promote organizational knowledge sharing and creation. There is not, however, a comprehensive conceptual framework that explains how the organizational use of Web 2.0 leads to organizational learning. In this article, we develop such a framework by drawing on social capital theory, the SECI knowledge creation model, and the concept of Ba to show how the dimensions of social capital that emerge from the use of Web 2.0 applications evolve and drive organizational learning

INFORMATIONAL SUPPORT OR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT: PRELIMINARY STUDY OF AN AUTOMATED APPROACH TO ANALYZE ONLINE SUPPORT COMMUNITY CONTENTS

Recognizing the need for analyzing large amounts of data in the study of online support communities, an automated content analysis method is introduced in this article. By adopting machine learning techniques and tools, this method requires minimal manual intervention while capable of analyzing large amounts of data automatically. Through this method, contents of messages from online support communities spanning over years are categorized as either informational support or emotional support. A case study on the analysis of online breast cancer and prostate cancer message boards is presented to demonstrate that the proposed method generates results comparable to results concluded from traditional manual qualitative content analysis methods

Web 2.0 Use and Organizational Innovation: A Knowledge Transfer Enabling Perspective

Over the last several years, a variety of Web 2.0 applications has been widely adopted by individual users and recently has received great attention from organizations. While an increasing number of organizations have started utilizing Web 2.0 applications in hopes of boosting collaboration and driving innovations, only a small number of different theoretical perspectives are available in the literature that facilitate a further understanding of the phenomenon of organizational adoption of Web 2.0 to drive innovation. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model explicating this phenomenon from the perspective that Web 2.0 use enhances knowledge transfer by fostering the emergence of informal networks, weak ties, boundary spanners and social capital. This model conceptualizes the process through which organizations drive innovations by utilizing Web 2.0 applications. Based on this perspective, suggestions for organizations to facilitate this process are also provided

Not Just for Support: Companionship Activities in Healthcare Virtual Support Communities

The phenomenon of social support―aid and assistance exchanged through social relationships and interpersonal transactions―has been studied extensively for decades. In the context of healthcare virtual support communities, researchers have focused on exploring community members’ support behavior and its effects on individuals’ health outcomes. This emphasis, however, has led to the neglect of another type of social interaction that also promotes individual health―companionship activities. We argue that in order to gain a deeper insight into the online support phenomenon, the consideration of companionship activities, in addition to social support exchange, is necessary. To bridge this gap in the literature, this article attempts to contrast community members’ support behavior and companionship activities in two large healthcare virtual support communities―one for patients with breast cancer and the other for patients with prostate cancer. Based on the identification of the two types of social activities from the two cancer support communities, the relationship between individuals’ participation in these activities, and gender differences in their activity engagement are also hypothesized and tested. Our goal is to advance the understanding of online socio-behavioral dynamics of virtual support communities. We also wish to provide insights into the design of such communities and the delivery of patient-focused healthcare interventions

Why Should I Provide Social Support? A Social Capital Perspective of Individual Helping Behavior in Healthcare Virtual Support Communities

The phenomenon of online social support has been studied for years. However, little is known about the factors that drive individual online helping behavior. While the Information systems literature provides rich insights into the determinants of online social support, the emphasis has been exclusively on the provision of informational help. By contending the need to expand our investigation to different types of support, this paper studies individual provisions of both informational and emotional social support in healthcare virtual support communities (HVSCs). Drawing on social capital theory, the structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital are conceptualized as the social support determinants. The results show that the social capital dimensions can be both facilitators and inhibitors of the two types of social support. This study can contribute not only to the literature on HVSCs, but also to studies of other types of virtual communities such as electronic networks of practice

Cultural Dimensions as Moderators of the UTAUT Model: a Research Proposal in a Healthcare Context

While a variety of information technology (IT) acceptance and use models have been extensively examined and validated in numerous contexts, most studies have been conducted in western cultures, and thus not much is known about the probable moderating role of culture on the relationships between the constructs in those models. To fill this gap in the literature, we propose to empirically investigate the probable moderating roles of national cultural differences on the relationships between the constructs in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT): a model that consolidates the most prominent eight previous IT acceptance and use models. Hofstede’s five national cultural dimensions that provide a framework for national cultural differences are employed as the moderators. A self-administered survey questionnaire will be sent to healthcare practitioners in ten major healthcare organizations, five each from Taiwan and the U.S., to solicit their responses regarding their acceptance and use of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs). The findings from this proposed research are expected to generate both theoretical and practical implications

Web 2.0 Use and Knowledge Transfer: How Social Media Technologies Can Lead to Organizational Innovation

The concept of Web 2.0 has gained widespread prominence in recent years. The use of Web 2.0 applications on an individual level is currently extensive, and such applications have begun to be implemented by organizations in hopes of boosting collaboration and driving innovation. Despite this growing trend, only a small number of theoretical perspectives are available in the literature that discuss how such applications could be utilized to assist in innovation. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model explicating this phenomenon. We argue that organizational Web 2.0 use fosters the emergence and enhancement of informal networks, weak ties, boundary spanners, organizational absorptive capacity, which are reflected in three dimensions of social capital, structural, relational, and cognitive. The generation of social capital enables organizational knowledge transfer, which in turn leads to organizational innovation. Based on this model, suggestions for organizations to facilitate this process are also provided, and theoretical implications are discussed