Health virtual communities: Is the self lost in the net?

Social Semiotics

Volumn 20, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 87-102

  Camerini, Luca ^a   Diviani, Nicola ^a   Tardini, Stefano ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LUGANO   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Content analysis; Health communication; Identity; Internet; Semiosphere; Virtual communities

Indexed keywords

EID: 79956162311     PISSN: 10350330     EISSN: 14701219     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10350330903507230     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. Abbate, J. 1999. Inventing the Internet. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
2. Azarya, V. 1996. Community. In The social science encyclopaedia, ed. A. Kuper and J. Kuper, 2nd ed., 114-115. London/New York: Routledge.
3. Baym, N.K. 1998. The emergence of on-line community. In Cybersociety 2.0. Revisiting computer-mediated communication and community, ed. S.G. Jones, 35-68. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4. Berelson, B. 1952. Content analysis in communication research. New York: Free Press.
5. Berger, C.R., and R.J. Calabrese. 1975. Some exploration in initial interaction and beyond: Toward a developmental theory of communication. Human Communication Research 1: 99-112.
6. Bernhardt, J.H. 1992. Non-ionizing radiation safety: Radiofrequency radiation, electric and magnetic fields. Physics in Medicine and Biology 37: 807-844.
7. Boberg, E.W., D.H. Gustafson, R.P. Hawkins, C.L. Chan, E. Bricker, S. Pingree, and H. Berhe. 1995. Development, acceptance, and use patterns of a computer-based education and social support system for people living with AIDS/HIV infection. Computers in Human Behavior 11: 289-311.
8. Brennan, P.F. 1996. The future of clinical communication in an electronic environment. Holistic Nursing Practice 11: 97-104.
9. Burnett, G. 2000. Information exchange in virtual communities: A typology. Information Research 5. http://informationr.net/ir/5-4/papers82.html
10. Castells, M. 2010. The rise of the network society, 2nd ed., with new preface. Chichester:Wiley-Blackwell.
11. Clark, H.H. 1996. Using language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
12. Clodius, J. 1997. Creating a community of interest. "Self" and "other" on DragonMud. Paper presented at the Combined Conference on MUDs, 15 January, in Jackson Hole, WY. http://dragonmud.org/people/jen/mudshopiii.html.
13. Demiris, G. 2006. The diffusion of virtual communities in health care: Concepts and challenges. Patient Education and Counseling 62: 178-88.
14. DeSouza, C.S., and J. Preece. 2004. A framework for analyzing and understanding online communities. Interacting with Computers 16, no. 3: 579-610.
15. Eysenbach, G., J. Powell, O. Kuss, and E.-R. Sa. 2002. Empirical studies assessing the quality of health information for consumers on the World Wide Web: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Association 287, no. 20: 2691-2700.
16. Eysenbach, G., J. Powell, M. Englesakis, C. Rizo, and A. Stern. 2004. Health related virtual communities and electronic support groups: Systematic review of the effects of online peer to peer interactions. British Medical Journal 328: 1166-1172.
17. Festinger, L. 1957. A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
18. Finfgeld, D.L. 2000. Therapeutic groups online: The good, the bad, and the unknown. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 21: 241-255.
19. Finn, J. 1995. Computer-based self-help groups: A new resource to supplement support groups. Social Work with Groups 18: 109-117.
20. Finn, J. 1996. Computer-based self-help groups: On-line recovery for addictions. Computers in Human Services 13, no. 1: 21-41.
21. Finn, J. 1999. An exploration of helping processes in an online self-help group focusing on issues of disability. Health and Social Work 24: 220-231.
22. Finn, J., and M. Lavitt. 1994. Compuer-based self-help groups for sexual abuse survivors. Social Work with Groups 17, nos. 1/2: 21-46.
23. Fox, S., and G. Livingstone. 2006. Online health search 2006: Pew Internet and American Life Project. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.
24. Geiger, T. 1931. Gemeinschaft. In Handwörterbuch der Soziologie, ed. A. Vierkandt, 173-180. Stuttgart: Ferdinand Enke Verlag.
25. Gleason, N.A. 1995. A new approach to disordered eating: Using an electronic bulletin board to confront social pressure on body image. Journal of American College Health 44: 78-80.
26. Gustafson, D., M. Wise, F. McTavish, J.O. Taylor, W. Wolberg, J. Stewart, R.V. Smalley, and K. Bosworth. 1993. The use and impact of a computer-based support system for people living with AIDS and HIV infection. In Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care, 604-608. Bethesda, MD: AMIA.
27. Hagel, J., and A.G. Armstrong. 1997. Net gain: Expanding markets through virtual communities. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
28. Hesse, B.W., D.E. Nelson, G.L. Kreps, R.T. Croyle, N.K. Arora, B.K. Rimer, and K. Viswanath. 2005. Trust and sources of health information. The impact of the Internet and its implications for health care providers: Findings from the First Health Information National Trends Survey. Archives of Internal Medicine 165: 2618-2624.
29. Hillery, G.A. 1955. Definitions of community: Areas of agreement. Rural sociology 20: 111-123.
30. Horrigan, J. 2001. Online communities 2001 survey data: Pew Internet & American Life Project. Washington, DC: Pew Internet Research.
31. Klemm, P., M. Hurst, S.L. Dearholt, and S.R. Trone. 1999. Gender differences on Internet cancer support groups. Computers in Nursing 17: 65-72.
32. Klemm, P., K. Reppert, and L. Visich. 1998. A nontraditional cancer support group: The Internet. Computers in Nursing 16: 31-36.
33. Lazar, J., and J. Preece. 1998. Classification schema for online communities. Proceedings of the 1998 Association for Information Systems, Americas Conference: 84-86.
34. Lechner, U., and B.F. Schmid. 2000. Communities and media - Towards a reconstruction of communities on media. In Hawaiian International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2000), ed. E. Sprague, 1-10. Washington, DC: IEEE Press.
35. Lotman, Y.M. 2001. Universe of the mind. A semiotic theory of culture. London: I.B. Tauris.
36. Madara, E.J. 1997. The mutual-aid self-help online revolution. Social Policy 27, no. 3: 20-26.
37. Miller, J.K., and K.J. Gergen. 1998. Life on the line: The therapeutic potentials of computermediated conversation. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy 24: 189-202.
38. Nielsen, J. 2006. Participation inequality: Encouraging more users to contribute. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/participation-inequality.html.
39. Nisbet, R.A. 1966. The sociological tradition. New York: Basic Books.
40. Norris, P. 2002. The bridging and the bonding role of online communities. Press/Politics 7, no. 3: 3-13.
41. Pitsillides, A, B. Pitsillides, G. Samaras, M. Dikaikos, E. Christodoulou, P. Andreou, and D. Georgiadis. 2004. DITIS. A collaborative virtual medical team for home healthcare of cancer patients. In M-Health: Emerging mobile health systems, ed. R.H. Istepanian, S. Layminarayan, and C. S. Pattichis, 247-266. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
42. Plant, R. 2004. Online communities. Technology in Society 26: 51-65.
43. Rainie, L. 2006. E-Health research. Forward to the Internet and health care: Theory, research, and practice. In The Internet and health care: Theory, research and practice, ed. M. Murero and R.E. Rice, 3-28. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
44. Rayner, S., and L.W. Rickert. 1988. Perception of risk: The social context of public concern over non-ionizing radiation. Paper presented at the International Non-Ionizing Radiation Workshop, 5-9 April, in London, UK.
45. Regel, S.J., S. Negovetic, M. Röösli, V. Berdiñas, J. Schuderer, A. Huss, U. Lott, N. Kuster, and P. Achermann. 2006. UMTS base station-like exposure, well-being, and cognitive performance. Environmental Health Perspectives 114, no. 8: 1270-1275.
46. Repacholi, M.H. 2001. Health risks from the use of mobile phones. Toxicology Letters 120: 323-331.
47. Rheingold, H. 1993. Virtual community. Homesteading on the electronic frontier. New York: Perseus Books.
48. Salem, D.A., G.A. Bogat, and C. Reid. 1997. Mutual help goes on-line. Journal of Community Psychology 25: 189-207.
49. Schopp, L.H., J.W. Hales, J.L. Quetsch, M.J. Hauan, and G.D. Brown. 2004. Design of a peerto-peer telerehabilitation model. Telemedicine Journal and e-Health 10: 243-251.
50. Schulz, P.J., S. Rubinelli, and U. Hartung. 2007. An Internet based approach to enhance selfmanagement of chronic low back pain in the Italian-speaking population of Switzerland: results from a pilot study. International Journal of Public Health 52, no. 5: 286-294.
51. Sharf, B.F. 1997. Communicating breast cancer on-line: Support and empowerment on the Internet. Women and Health 26: 65-84.
52. Strecher, V. 2007. Internet methods for delivering behavioral and health-related interventions (eHealth). Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 3: 53-76.
53. Tardini, S., and L. Cantoni. 2005. A semiotic approach to online communities: Belonging, interest and identity in websites' and videogames' communities. In Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference e-Society 2005, ed. P. Isaías, P. Kommers, and M. McPherson, 371-378. Qwara, Malta: IADIS Press.
54. Tardini, S., and L. Cantoni. 2009. Development of IT and virtual communities. In Encyclopedia of multimedia technology and networking, ed. M. Pagani. 2nd ed., vol. 1, 349-355. Hershey: Information Science Reference.
55. Tate, D.F., E.H. Jackvony, and R.R. Wing. 2003. Effects of Internet behavioral counseling on weight loss in adults at risk for type 2 diabetes: A randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association 289: 1833-1836.
56. Taylor, S.E. 1999. Health psychology, 4th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
57. Tönnies, F. 2001. Community and civil society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Orig. pub 1887.).
58. Van Alstyne, M., and E. Brynjolfsson. 2005. Global village or cyber-balkans? Modeling and measuring the integration of electronic communities. Management Science 51, no. 6: 851-868.
59. Van Uden-Kraan, C.F., C.H.C. Drossaert, E. Taal, B.R. Shaw, E.R. Seydel, and M.A.F.J. van de Laar. 2008. Empowering processes and outcomes of participation in online support groups for patients with breast cancer, arthritis, or fibromyalgia. Qualitative Health Research 18, no. 3: 405-417.
60. Wellman, B. 1997. An electronic group is virtually a social network. In Cultures of the Internet, ed. S. Kisler, 170-205. Mahawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
61. Winzelberg, A. 1997. The analysis of an electronic support group for individuals with eating disorders. Computers in Human Behavior 13: 393-407.
62. Zwamborn, A.P.M., S.H.J.A. Vossen, B.J.A.M. van Leersum, M.A. Ouwens, and W.N. Mäkel. 2003. Effects of global communication system radio-frequency fields on well being and cognitive functions of human subjects with and without subjective complaints. FEL-03-C148. The Hague, The Netherlands: TNO Physics and Electronics Laboratory.