Social support on Reddit for antiretroviral therapy
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DTA-08-2021-0229 |
| Published date | 21 April 2023 |
| Date | 21 April 2023 |
| Pages | 279-292 |
| Author | Yue Ming |
Social support on Reddit for
antiretroviral therapy
Yue Ming
College of Communication and Information, Kent State University, Kent,
Ohio, USA
Abstract
Purpose –Social media platforms such as Reddit can be used as a place for people with shared health
problems to share knowledge and support. Previous studies have focused on the overall picture of how much
social support people who live with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) receive from online interactions. Yet, only few
studies have examined the impact of social support from social media platforms on antiretroviral therapy
(ART), which is a necessary lifelong therapy for PLWHA. This study used social support theory to examine
related Reddit posts.
Design/methodology/approach –This study used content analysis to analyze ART-related Reddit posts.
Each Reddit post was manually coded by two coders for social support type. A computational text analysis
tool, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, was used to generate linguistic features. ANOVA analyses were
conducted to compare differences in user engagement and well-being across the types of social support.
Findings –Results suggest that most of the posts were informational support posts, followed by emotional
support posts and instrumental support posts. Results indicate that there are no significant differences
within user engagement variables, but there are significant differences within several well-being variables
including analytic score, clout score, health words usage and negative emotional words usage among social
support types.
Originality/value –This study contributes to further understanding of social support theory in an online
context used predominantly by a younger generation. Practical advice for public health researchers and
practitioners is discussed.
Keywords Social support, Reddit, Antiretroviral therapy, HIV/AIDS, Social media, User engagement
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a necessary lifelong therapy for most people who live with
HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). For HIV patients, online social support helps them seek and receive
help while avoiding a certain level of social pressure and uncertainty (Brashers et al., 2004).
Social support has played an important role in improving people’s health behavior. Many
studies have examined its influence on stress and mental health issues (Lakey and Heller,
1988;Manne and Zautra, 1989;Mo and Coulson, 2013). Traditional social support mainly
describes face-to-face support provided by health practitioners, family members or friends
(Liebler and Sandefur, 2002). With the development of the Internet and information and
communication technologies, social support can also occur in various online environments
and, in particular, social media platforms (Liu et al., 2020;Lin and Kishore, 2021).
More and more people use social media as information seeking sources and information
sharing platforms. Unlike traditional online discussion forums, socialmedia sites offer a more
personal andself-identified environmentfor users to communicate and presenta deep level of
self-disclosure(Shi and Chen, 2014). Therefore, “these platforms provide a rich ecosystem to
study the variety of self-disclosure, social support and disinhibition that engender health
related discourse”(De Choudhury and De , 2014,p.71).
As such, this study examines the relationship between social support expressed in Reddit
posts and health information behavior. Reddit is a comprehensive online community, divided
into different topical areas called subreddits. Users join different subreddits and can post text,
ThecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalisavailableonEmerald Insightat:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9288.htm
279
Received 31 August 2021
Revised 15 March 2022
Accepted 18 October 2022
Data Technologies and
Applications
Vol. 57 No. 2, 2023
pp. 279-292
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9288
DOI 10.1108/DTA-08-2021-0229
Social support
on Reddit for
ART
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