Thank you for your reply
5150sick.
Initially, I recurred to the private conversation feature because I was interested in the responses of more active users, not the all community. I didn´t use the survey monkey because it is not a questionnaire, just some generic open questions, more like a tex-based interview. It was not my intention to disturb anyone; in fact, I sent the request only to the users that I think are more involved in the community or are more interesting, based of the quality of the content they usually post. I have great respect for the people in this forum, so, I apologize for my actions and ignorance about the rules of the forum.
There is no big mystery about the questions, I only thought it would be inappropriate to post the questions in an open thread because some may involve personal feelings and opinions. But here are the questions and respective context.
1) I suppose that contributing to this forum involves personal costs. The costs of contributing to the forum may include monetary costs, time, energy, and, in the case of complex and risky choice situations, to share knowledge people may also have to endure high cognitive efforts (cost of thinking).
What are the main factors that motivate you to participate in this online community and be willing to sacrifice your time and effort?
2) When I analyzed the structural dimension of social support within the forum, using social network analysis, I found evidence that reciprocity in social support exists in the forum; however, I concluded that the indexes of dyad reciprocity, which are calculated as the ratio of reciprocal ties to all ties, were lower than the percentage of reciprocated dyads observed in other online health communities (used for comparison purposes). What this means is that people in this forum tend to assume a single role, of knowledge providers or knowledge receivers. Despite the reduced levels of dyad reciprocity in social support exchange, several users express a believe that the community is there for them if they ever need support, implying that there is a perception of general reciprocity in the forums. The norm of generalized reciprocity, involves the intention to provide support without a calculation of value or immediate repayment and can be motivated by altruistic reasons, a desire to help others and see the forum flourish or based on the confidence that support exchanges will eventually be reciprocal, in the long run, or that payback is in a different currency such online status, honor or others’ approval.
Do you expect some kind of reciprocity from other forum members? I mean, when you contribute to the forum do you have an expectation that other forum members will also answer to your posts in the future?
3) The analysis of interactions in the forum suggests that members’ interpersonal trust in others’ expertise and integrity occurs. I observed several examples were users reported the intention to act on the advice and opinions of other forum members.
Do you trust the information you receive from other forum members? And if so, do you trust some members more than others?
4) It seems to me that there are different groups of users in the forum, based on distinct interest in vaping. For example, some forum members appear to assign a fashion dimension to vaping. Based on their posts I concluded that this group of members mostly includes young people that vape because of the “cool factor”. A second group of members integrates individuals that are devoted to vaping as a pleasurable hobby. Traces of this sub-culture of consumption are evident when members of the forum share their vaping related stories, explain with passion the vaping devices they use, their preferred e-liquids, or how they self-assemble their coils and e-liquids. Finally, we have the largest group of forum users that seem to understand vaping as a simple mechanism to auxiliate tobacco cessation.
How do you think this set of multiple identities within the forum impacts the online community and the quality of social support interactions? Do you think that the existence of different interests in vaping complicates discussions in the forum?
5) Members of the forum are guided by community norms when they interact with others in the forums. Forum moderators and senior members both control and discipline appropriate behavior when members interact in the forums. However, I believe that some norms are not written, they result from implicit obligations that are imposed within the context of personal interactions. I noted, for example, that when a “newbie” suggests a strange relationship between vaping and a serious illness, he is sanctioned by being treated with disdain.
How do you think new members must behave in the forum? Do you believe that new members must first observe, or “lurk”, learning from the periphery, not participating in message exchange, or do you think that new members must immediately engage in forum discussions?
6) Message exchange about the healthcare system primarily focused on the topic of doctors’ supposed lack of knowledge about vaping. Most participants seem to agree that health professionals are a relevant source of information in respect to tobacco cessation. However, community members also consider health professionals as unable to provide answers in relation to vaping because they are not familiar with this practice as an auxiliary method of tobacco cessation. On the other side, despite the general negative perception of forum users about the formal health care system messages exchange analyzed indicate that when the health condition of a forum member appears to be serious or is dubious, forum members are recommend in the forums to see a doctor as soon as possible.
What is your opinion about the possibility of doctors participating in the forum? Do you agree with a solution involving public sponsorship of medical professionals monitoring these type of forums?
Regards,
Nuno
