Research Article
Identity and Behavior in Online Health Communities
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/eai.20-4-2018.2277569, author={Cheng Guo}, title={Identity and Behavior in Online Health Communities}, proceedings={12th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare -- Demos, Posters, Doctoral Colloquium}, publisher={EAI}, proceedings_a={PERVASIVEHEALTH - EAI}, year={2018}, month={8}, keywords={hci health informatics online communities identity anonymity health information}, doi={10.4108/eai.20-4-2018.2277569} }- Cheng Guo
Year: 2018
Identity and Behavior in Online Health Communities
PERVASIVEHEALTH - EAI
EAI
DOI: 10.4108/eai.20-4-2018.2277569
Abstract
Online communities and forums are becoming an important source of health information. People share and discuss health information at all levels of topic using different identities ranging from anonymity to real names. The overall amount of user engagement and the quality of that engagement may differ depending on the different levels of identity. Users may also perform differently using different identities. Yet little is known how different levels of identity affect user behavior in online health communities. My dissertation research focuses on understanding the relationship between identities and Q&A behavior in online health communities. My work also focuses on designing processes and tools to better support online health Q&A behavior. My dissertation research will inform the building of safer and more useful online health communities.