Lonely Typers at Midnight

Also known as Generation Y, Millennials—an American construct to classify those born from the early 1980 to mid-1990s—have been targeted by mainstream media as narcissistic, and internet obsessed. But as Diesing (2011) organizes, gross generalizations of the American cohort's vanity may only contain nuggets of truth. If millennials are in fact narcissistic and technologically oriented, this research attempts to understand whether this psychological assessment is innate, or deterministic. Contemporary online platforms allow users to voice their opinions and insight regarding predominant frames constructed by once exclusive media domains. Analysis of Reddit discussions through digital ethnography has worked to better understand modes of agency, or lack thereof, as this demographic navigates health problems in a technologically mediated society; providing insight for practitioners, patients, and family members in how to properly conceptualize illness to best help them, and the social order. Also known as Generation Y, Millennials—an American construct to classify those born from the early 1980 to mid-1990s—have been targeted by mainstream media as narcissistic, and internet obsessed. But gross generalizations of the American cohort's vanity may only contain nuggets of truth. If millennials are in fact narcissistic and technologically oriented, this research attempts to understand whether this psychological assessment is innate, or deterministic. Contemporary online platforms allow users to voice their opinions and insight regarding predominant frames constructed by once exclusive media domains. Analysis of Reddit discussions through digital ethnography has worked to better understand modes of agency, or lack thereof, as this demographic navigates health problems in a technologically mediated society; providing insight for practitioners, patients, and family members in how to properly conceptualize illness to best help them, and the social order.

Social Support Through Digital Media?

This chapter aims to analyze the use of online support groups for breast cancer in Turkey. After describing the general characteristics of such groups, the authors closely analyze the two Facebook groups on breast cancer. The analysis focuses on how the patients read the illness and their struggle to cope with the illness; how social support mechanisms are used; and which aims and motivations are foregrounded. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques are used in the research. Informed by the international research literature, the chapter also tries to underline the similarities and differences of online social media in the Turkish context. Although the main purpose of the groups is to share information, emotional empathy and shared personal experience are also obvious.

Analyzing Online Social Support Within the Type 1 Diabetes Community

Social support has been linked with many health outcomes, ranging from heart disease to depression. Although its importance has been recognized, less is known about how individuals with chronic illnesses may use social media to provide and seek social support. This chapter's focus is on the way in which people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) use social media to provide and solicit social support. A mixed-methods approach is utilized. First, posts from two social media platforms were qualitatively content analyzed. Second, the data were quantitatively analyzed to provide a finer-grained understanding of the messages. The results show informational support as the most prevalent on both sites, although there are some differences in content and use. This chapter's implications highlight the importance of social media as a conduit for social support among caregivers and individuals affected by T1D.

Social Media for Mental Health Initiatives

Social media has added a new dynamic for those living with mental illness. There are several benefits to using social media to obtain information and support for mental health issues, but there are also new challenges and drawbacks. This chapter explores social media for mental health initiatives, with a focus on two case studies: Facebook's suicide prevention tools and the Bell Let's Talk campaign. These case studies highlight the unique ways that social media can be harnessed to raise awareness and provide support and resources to vulnerable populations, while also providing insights into the challenges of utilizing these platforms.

Sharing Your Personal Medical Experience Online

What happened between Mrs. Kardashian West and the FDA in 2015 is very interesting to all of us. She praised and suggested a prescribed drug against morning sickness. The FDA claimed it was a commercial and sent a warning letter to the company, which produced the drug. Kim Kardashian West changed her post and admitted it was a commercial. Was it true? Mrs. Kardashian West just expressed her personal opinion and wanted to share with her followers a piece of advice. She share her personal story, like many other Internet users, and her patient experience should have been respected. Her story shows what patient empowerment is and how the Net is a precious resource for patients to share their stories that might help other patients. For this reason, doctors should not be afraid of the Net and its potentiality.

Online Social Support Groups/Communities

Numerous studies over the past two decades suggest that people with a variety of health concerns are increasingly turning to online networks for social support. This has led to the rise of online support groups/communities for people facing health concerns. Researchers have found that these groups/communities provide patients, disease survivors, and caregivers a number of advantages and disadvantages in terms of mobilizing social support for their health-related concerns. This chapter will examine these issues in greater detail as well as the theoretical and practical implications of this body of research for patients who use online support communities to help cope with and manage a variety of health issues. It will provide an overview of online social support and health outcomes, discuss key processes and theoretical explanations for the efficacy of online support communities for people facing health concerns, and the limitations of this body of research as well as an agenda for future communication research on health-related online support groups/communities.

Cyber-Moms Facing Motherhood

Mothers and mothers-to-be often become e-health users because of their need for sharing emotional and practical parental experiences. In this sense, web forums seem to positively contribute to parenting skills and transition to motherhood. This study aims at exploring how 379 Italian mothers use two Italian forums, the manifest and latent contents of their interactions, and the emotional connections between their own maternal experiences and the e-group dynamics. The qualitative analysis of 7433 comments pointed out five main themes, describing how mothers make sense of their experiences through the online dimension: the group; I am; personal experience; perspective knowhow; tech-moms. This study confirms that parenting experience represents a big challenge for rising mothers. Moreover, it shows that the e-groups can alternatively reproduce a peer group functioning and a feeding breast, a reassuring container with holding functions, or a “toilet breast”, encouraging progressive as well as regressive movements.

Insight Into Sub-Saharan African Discussions of Anxiety and Depression Online

This chapter presents a brief review of past studies on the topics of stigma towards clinical anxiety and depression among populations of African descent in the US and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the efficacy of online searches for assistance and moral support. It also reports the findings of a study of nine African patients or survivors of clinical anxiety and depression who share their stories two online platforms, i.e., the website of the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), and the www.depression-understood.org forum. Relevant themes are presented using Owen's (1984) and Mitchell's (2016) analytical frameworks.