The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums
Help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideations is frequent in internet forums. Forum threads concerning these topics often receive much interest through active replies but are also read by numerous passive users. Previous research indicates that such interactions may be helpful for the he...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Masaryk University
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15567 |
| _version_ | 1827311072762134528 |
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| author | Jonas Bjärehed Hannes Grönberg Erik Jarlvik |
| author_facet | Jonas Bjärehed Hannes Grönberg Erik Jarlvik |
| author_sort | Jonas Bjärehed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideations is frequent in internet forums. Forum threads concerning these topics often receive much interest through active replies but are also read by numerous passive users. Previous research indicates that such interactions may be helpful for the help-seeker, even if the underlying mechanisms are less clear. Meanwhile, some studies also suggest that online forum interactions can be less helpful or have a negative impact on the help-seeker. This study examines how online help-seeking is responded to through a qualitative thematic analysis of 72 discussion threads comprising 1,475 posts. We identify six themes that characterize different types of responses: Giving Tips, Teaching, Coaching, Consoling, Sharing One’s Own Experiences, and Bullying. These response types represent different strategies in their attempts to provide help, but sometimes also appear less helpful or even malicious. The responses are heterogeneous and often contradictory, with very different tones, spanning over varied suggestions and topics, leaving the help-seeker to interpret and make sense of the messages.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:10:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b15c778559ea4aeea526d2d80cdad4a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1802-7962 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:10:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Masaryk University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace |
| spelling | doaj.art-b15c778559ea4aeea526d2d80cdad4a82024-03-23T13:13:44ZengMasaryk UniversityCyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace1802-79622023-11-0117510.5817/CP2023-5-5The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forumsJonas Bjärehed0Hannes Grönberg1Erik Jarlvik2Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideations is frequent in internet forums. Forum threads concerning these topics often receive much interest through active replies but are also read by numerous passive users. Previous research indicates that such interactions may be helpful for the help-seeker, even if the underlying mechanisms are less clear. Meanwhile, some studies also suggest that online forum interactions can be less helpful or have a negative impact on the help-seeker. This study examines how online help-seeking is responded to through a qualitative thematic analysis of 72 discussion threads comprising 1,475 posts. We identify six themes that characterize different types of responses: Giving Tips, Teaching, Coaching, Consoling, Sharing One’s Own Experiences, and Bullying. These response types represent different strategies in their attempts to provide help, but sometimes also appear less helpful or even malicious. The responses are heterogeneous and often contradictory, with very different tones, spanning over varied suggestions and topics, leaving the help-seeker to interpret and make sense of the messages. https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15567online discussion forumdepressionsuicidesocial supporthelp-seeking |
| spellingShingle | Jonas Bjärehed Hannes Grönberg Erik Jarlvik The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberpspace online discussion forum depression suicide social support help-seeking |
| title | The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums |
| title_full | The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums |
| title_fullStr | The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums |
| title_full_unstemmed | The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums |
| title_short | The different faces of online support: A thematic analysis of responses to help-seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums |
| title_sort | different faces of online support a thematic analysis of responses to help seeking related to depression and suicidal ideation in public online forums |
| topic | online discussion forum depression suicide social support help-seeking |
| url | https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15567 |
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