Seeking virtual social support through blogging: A content analysis of published blog posts written by people with chronic pain.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

People with chronic pain often have limited avenues for social support. Social isolation often develops as their abilities to engage in daily social and vocational activities decrease. With recent advancements in technology and increasing use of social media, virtual platforms such as blogging may provide opportunities for social support. This study analyzed published blog posts of people with chronic pain to investigate how social support occurs through blogging for chronic pain blog users and the nature of such online interactions.

Methods

A total of 810 blog posts published from January 2014 to December 2015 on 44 publicly accessible chronic pain blogs were collected and analyzed through qualitative phenomenological thematic analysis.

Results

The Virtual

SUBMITTER: Tsai S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6016559 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature