Conversation Analysis as a Tool to Understand Online Social Encounters

Background Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk of developing many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and certain types of cancers. Online social media platforms are popular among people seeking social support regarding weight loss and sharing their weight loss experiences, which provides opportunities for learning about weight loss behaviors. Objective This study aimed to investigate the extent to which the content posted by users in the r/loseit subreddit, an online community for discussing weight loss, and online interactions were associated with their weight loss in terms of the number of replies and votes that these users received. Methods All posts that were published before January 2018 in r/loseit were collected. We focused on users who revealed their start weight, current weight, and goal weight and were active in this online community for at least 30 days. A topic modeling technique and a hierarchical clustering algorithm were used to obtain both global topics and local word semantic clusters. Finally, we used a regression model to learn the association between weight loss and topics, word semantic clusters, and online interactions. Results Our data comprised 477,904 posts that were published by 7660 users within a span of 7 years. We identified 25 topics, including food and drinks, calories, exercises, family members and friends, and communication. Our results showed that the start weight (β=.823; P<.001), active days (β=.017; P=.009), and median number of votes (β=.263; P=.02), mentions of exercises (β=.145; P<.001), and nutrition (β=.120; P<.001) were associated with higher weight loss. Users who lost more weight might be motivated by the negative emotions (β=−.098; P<.001) that they experienced before starting the journey of weight loss. In contrast, users who mentioned vacations (β=−.108; P=.005) and payments (β=−.112; P=.001) tended to experience relatively less weight loss. Mentions of family members (β=−.031; P=.03) and employment status (β=−.041; P=.03) were associated with less weight loss as well. Conclusions Our study showed that both online interactions and offline activities were associated with weight loss, suggesting that future interventions based on existing online platforms should focus on both aspects. Our findings suggest that online personal health data can be used to learn about health-related behaviors effectively.

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Online Discussion Groups

Encyclopedia of Information Technology Curriculum Integration ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-881-9.ch104 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 664-669 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Steven D’Agustino

Keyword(s):

World Wide Web ◽

Online Communities ◽

Online Community ◽

World Wide ◽

Online Discussion ◽

Discussion Groups ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Discussion Forums ◽

The World ◽

Use Of The Internet

An online discussion forum is an environment on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the Web application software used to enable these discussions. Web-based forums, which date from the mid 1990’s, are also commonly referred to as Web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, and bulletin boards. Similar to other elements of the early World Wide Web, online discussion groups were built around common interests, with participants self-selecting membership in a particular online community. These early discussion groups focused on technical aspects of online environments, early self-referential and technical discussions related to the nature, construction, and maintenance of the World Wide Web itself. The content of these early discussions was determined by the nature of these early adopters. As use of the Internet gradually permeated society, the use and content of online discussions evolved as well. A principal area of interest in the current use of online discussion groups is in education. While corporations and other business forms make use of online forums, the evolving and increasing integration of online discussions into educative efforts, enhanced by the proliferation of online education, makes education the area most impacted by this relatively recent development in communication. As Nonnecke and Preece (1999) have described, research in electronic discussion groups has focused on a number of areas, including the nature of online communities (Wellman, 1997), the development of friendship (Park & Floyd, 1996), the role of empathy in group discussions (Preece, 1998), and the differences between men and women (Roberts, 1998). Additional work has been done on specific kinds on online communities, for example, therapy (King, 1994), education (Hiltz, 1993), business (Sproull & Keisler, 1986), and health support (Preece & Ghozati, 1998).

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Involving people affected by a rare condition in shaping future genomic research

10.21203/rs.3.rs-62242/v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jack Nunn ◽

Kylie Gwynne ◽

Sarah Gray ◽

Paul Lacaze

Keyword(s):

Study Design ◽

Online Community ◽

Online Survey ◽

Online Discussion ◽

Rare Condition ◽

Research Process ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Genomic Research ◽

Future Research ◽

Learning Resources

Abstract Background There is evidence that involving potential participants and the public in co-designing research can improve the quality of the study design, recruitment and acceptability of the research, but appropriate methodologies for doing this are not always clear. In this study we co-designed a way of involving people affected by a rare genomic disease in shaping future genomic research about the condition. The aim was to report the process, experiences and outcomes of involving people in genomic research in a standardised way, in order to inform future methods of involvement in research co-production. Method Participants were recruited from an online community hosted by an Australian-based rare disease charity and were over the age 18 years. Once people gave consent, we shared learning resources with participants and invited them to complete an online survey before joining a two-week facilitated online discussion, followed by a second online survey. We used the novel tool ‘Standardised Data on Initiatives - Alpha Version 0.1’ (STARDIT) to map preferences, plan involvement and report any outcomes from the process, with quantitative data analysed descriptively and qualitative data thematically analysed. Results Of the 26 people who gave consent and completed the initial survey, 15 participated in the online discussion and 12 completed the follow-up survey. STARDIT was used to report six outcomes from the process, including 60% of participants’ responses showing a change towards ‘widening’ their view of who should be involved in research to include more people. Outcomes also included an improved understanding of research and how to be involved. Participants enjoyed online discussions, found learning resources useful and asked to stay involved in the research process. The partner organisation reported that a similar online discussion will be used in future research prioritisation processes. Conclusion Involving people in co-designing the process improved the study design, ensuring it met the needs of participants. Whilst the study includes participants from only one disease group, using STARDIT allowed us to map people’s preferences and report the methods and outcomes from involving people, providing a way for learning from this case study to inform future research studies beyond the discipline of public health genomics.

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Understanding Weight Loss via Online Discussions: Content Analysis of Reddit Posts Using Topic Modeling and Word Clustering Techniques (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13745 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Yang Liu ◽

Zhijun Yin

Keyword(s):

Weight Loss ◽

Topic Modeling ◽

Online Community ◽

Clustering Algorithm ◽

Family Members ◽

Median Number ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Online Interactions ◽

Online Social Media

BACKGROUND Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk of developing many diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and certain types of cancers. Online social media platforms are popular among people seeking social support regarding weight loss and sharing their weight loss experiences, which provides opportunities for learning about weight loss behaviors. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the extent to which the content posted by users in the r/loseit subreddit, an online community for discussing weight loss, and online interactions were associated with their weight loss in terms of the number of replies and votes that these users received. METHODS All posts that were published before January 2018 in r/loseit were collected. We focused on users who revealed their start weight, current weight, and goal weight and were active in this online community for at least 30 days. A topic modeling technique and a hierarchical clustering algorithm were used to obtain both global topics and local word semantic clusters. Finally, we used a regression model to learn the association between weight loss and topics, word semantic clusters, and online interactions. RESULTS Our data comprised 477,904 posts that were published by 7660 users within a span of 7 years. We identified 25 topics, including food and drinks, calories, exercises, family members and friends, and communication. Our results showed that the start weight (β=.823; P<.001), active days (β=.017; P=.009), and median number of votes (β=.263; P=.02), mentions of exercises (β=.145; P<.001), and nutrition (β=.120; P<.001) were associated with higher weight loss. Users who lost more weight might be motivated by the negative emotions (β=−.098; P<.001) that they experienced before starting the journey of weight loss. In contrast, users who mentioned vacations (β=−.108; P=.005) and payments (β=−.112; P=.001) tended to experience relatively less weight loss. Mentions of family members (β=−.031; P=.03) and employment status (β=−.041; P=.03) were associated with less weight loss as well. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed that both online interactions and offline activities were associated with weight loss, suggesting that future interventions based on existing online platforms should focus on both aspects. Our findings suggest that online personal health data can be used to learn about health-related behaviors effectively.

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Involving people affected by a rare condition in shaping future genomic research

Research Involvement and Engagement ◽

10.1186/s40900-021-00256-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jack S. Nunn ◽

Kylie Gwynne ◽

Sarah Gray ◽

Paul Lacaze

Keyword(s):

Study Design ◽

Online Community ◽

Online Survey ◽

Online Discussion ◽

Rare Condition ◽

Research Process ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Genomic Research ◽

Future Research ◽

Learning Resources

Abstract Background There is evidence that involving potential participants and the public in co-designing research can improve the quality of the study design, recruitment and acceptability of the research, but appropriate methodologies for doing this are not always clear. In this study we co-designed a way of involving people affected by a rare genomic disease in shaping future genomic research about the condition. The aim was to report the process, experiences and outcomes of involving people in genomic research in a standardised way, in order to inform future methods of involvement in research co-production. Method Participants were recruited from an online community hosted by an Australian-based rare disease charity and were over the age 18 years. Once people gave consent, we shared learning resources with participants and invited them to complete an online survey before joining a two-week facilitated online discussion, followed by a second online survey. We used the novel tool ‘Standardised Data on Initiatives - Alpha Version 0.1’ (STARDIT) to map preferences, plan involvement and report any outcomes from the process, with quantitative data analysed descriptively and qualitative data thematically analysed. Results Of the 26 people who gave consent and completed the initial survey, 15 participated in the online discussion and 12 completed the follow-up survey. STARDIT was used to report six outcomes from the process, including 60% of participants’ responses showing a change towards ‘widening’ their view of who should be involved in research to include more people. Outcomes also included an improved understanding of research and how to be involved. Participants enjoyed online discussions, found learning resources useful and asked to stay involved in the research process. The partner organisation reported that a similar online discussion will be used in future research prioritisation processes. Conclusion Involving people in co-designing the process improved the study design, ensuring it met the needs of participants. Whilst the study includes participants from only one disease group, using STARDIT allowed us to map people’s preferences and report the methods and outcomes from involving people, providing a way for learning from this case study to inform future research studies beyond the discipline of public health genomics.

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Conversations about cancer-related infertility: An exploration of online discussion forums.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2016.34.3_suppl.e279 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 34 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. e279-e282

Author(s):

Taylor J Sands ◽

Stephanie Smeltzer ◽

Laura Covarrubias ◽

Terri Lynn Woodard

Keyword(s):

Health Care Providers ◽

Online Community ◽

Online Discussion ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Alternative Methods ◽

Discussion Forums ◽

Care Providers ◽

Online Forums ◽

Online Discussion Forums ◽

Fertility Counseling

e279 Background: Many patients use Internet discussion forums to seek support and advice on medical conditions, including cancer and fertility. Online discussions about medical issues have been demonstrated to influence patients’ decisions about their care. The objective of this study was to explore online discussions that patients have about cancer and infertility. Methods: An initial search identified the three most popular forums that contained discussions about cancer-related infertility. Within these forums, a search of “cancer” and “infertility” was performed. All threads posted between June 1, 2010, and June 1, 2015 were identified. Qualitative research methods were used to identify, code, and analyze themes within the data. Results: A total of 14 threads and 133 posts were identified. Participants were both male and female and the age range of those disclosing demographic information was 21 to 44 years old. The major themes that were identified were: 1) use of forums as a supportive network, 2) sharing of experiences with fertility counseling and/or treatment, 3) consideration of alternative methods of family building, and 4) challenges encountered when seeking fertility counseling and services. Conclusions: Individuals affected by cancer-related infertility may use online discussion forums to seek information and advice from others who have gone through similar experiences, or to share their personal stories with fertility preservation with the online community. Understanding the role that these online forums play can help health care providers address the unique concerns of this population.

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Involving People Affected by a Rare Condition in Shaping Future Genomic Research

10.21203/rs.3.rs-62242/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kylie Gwynne ◽

Sarah Gray ◽

Paul Lacaze ◽

Jack S Nunn

Keyword(s):

Study Design ◽

Online Community ◽

Online Survey ◽

Online Discussion ◽

Rare Condition ◽

Research Process ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Genomic Research ◽

Future Research ◽

Learning Resources

Abstract Background There is evidence that involving potential participants and the public in co-designing research can improve the quality of the study design, recruitment and acceptability of the research, but appropriate methodologies for doing this are not always clear. In this study we co-designed a way of involving people affected by a rare genomic disease in shaping future genomic research about the condition. The aim was to report the process, experiences and outcomes of involving people in genomic research in a standardised way, in order to inform future methods of involvement in research co-production. Method Participants were recruited from an online community hosted by an Australian-based rare disease charity and were over the age 18 years. Once people gave consent, we shared learning resources with participants and invited them to complete an online survey before joining a two-week facilitated online discussion, followed by a second online survey. We used ‘Standardised Data on Initiatives (STARDIT)’ to map preferences, plan involvement and report any outcomes from the process, with quantitative data analysed descriptively and qualitative data thematically analysed. Results Of the 26 people who gave consent and completed the initial survey, 15 participated in the online discussion and 12 completed the follow-up survey. STARDIT was used to report six outcomes from the process, including 60% of participants’ responses showing a change towards ‘widening’ their view of who should be involved in research to include more people. Outcomes also included an improved understanding of research and how to be involved. Participants enjoyed online discussions, found learning resources useful and asked to stay involved in the research process. The partner organisation reported that a similar online discussion will be used in future research prioritisation processes. Conclusion Involving people in co-designing the process improved the study design, ensuring it met the needs of participants. Whilst the study includes participants from only one disease group, using STARDIT allowed us to map people’s preferences and report the methods and outcomes from involving people, providing a way for learning from this case study to inform future research studies beyond the discipline of public health genomics.

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CASE STUDY OF ONLINE DISCUSSION BOARD USE IN AN ENGINEERING EDUCATION GRADUATE COURSE

Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) ◽

10.24908/pceea.vi0.13838 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Alexandra Davidson ◽

Lisa Romkey ◽

Allison Van Beek

Keyword(s):

Engineering Education ◽

Online Discussion ◽

Discussion Board ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Asynchronous Learning ◽

Discussion Boards ◽

Graduate Course ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Online Discussion Board

Due to the increasing prevalence of asynchronous learning platforms, the development and implementation of online discussion boards have become important considerations in the design of post-secondary learning environments. This research is conducted as a case study of the online discussion board use in a small engineering education graduate course, consisting of in-class and online discussion components. By varying the structure of the online discussion board to allow different types of student interaction, the study identifies trends in discussion board use, specifically pertaining to student participation, student collaboration, and the integration between in-class and online discussions. As a result, the study provides insight into the utility and limitations of online discussion boards in post-secondary courses.

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