THE INTERACTION BETWEEN NEEDS AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY: A NETNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF AN ONLINE HEALTH COMMUNITY

With the emergence of the Internet, it has become a common place where people are frequently seeking social support [35]. This paper is an investigation of the request for support in an online health community for people dealing with a stigmatizing health condition. It is part of a research-in-progress aiming to understand the satisfaction of stigmatized patients and future engagement in the online health community. For this investigation we consider a netnographic approach to deeply explore the types of support and the thematic discourse generated in the online community of inquiry. We extracted a total of 513 posts shared by members of the community within a week (3rd June - 9 th June). The findings suggest different types of support where network support and seeking emotional support are the most prominent among other types of support. From the careful analysis of the communication patterns within the OHC it has emerged that the communication is mainly directed in four macro themes, respectively: 1) feelings and beliefs, 2) time reference, 3) health and well-being, and 4) people of support. The findings of this study have important theoretical and practical implications.