New Health Advice: Health Forum Sites as a Change of Discourse Frame, from Doctor-to-Patient to User-to-User

Abstract

Health forum communities form support groups responding to the need for information. Participants in these communities nd a space in which they share experiences and feelings, and are able to recount their success stories and failures according to a ‘gather, share and learn’ paradigm. One of the main worries concerning these spaces has been the unmonitored information that is provided by users who do not/ cannot take responsibility for what they say. Previous studies were intended to explore how individuals with health issues use health-related online communities to access information and support. This research, on the other hand, examines the extent to which health advice may be conversational, analysing how participants construct their stances. In particular, this paper presents results re ecting a shift from a doctor-to-patient frame to a user-to-user frame in terms of authorship and responsibility for online claims and statements. This paper attempts to understand how health communication is changing in an online environment.