Communities of support: social support exchange in a HIV online forum

Zheng Gao, Patrick C. Shih

Abstract: Analysis of social support in online forums for people living with HIV has been relying, for the most part, on self-report instrumentation and manual coding of data. Our study applies a fully automated data analysis method based on clustering and network embedding of the largest online support forum (POZ forum)for people living with HIV. Results show that there are three sub communities of members within the forum differing in terms of member engagement, topics discussed, and types of support exchanged. This paper analyses the similarities and differences among these communities as a way to identify members that comprise each community and how they exchange support. The result can be generalized to show current situation of HIV discussion online and how social supports change in different group of people related to HIV. Therefore, better social support plans can be applied to help HIV patients relief their pain.