a Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center , Georgetown University Medical Center.
b Communication, Culture, and Technology Program , Georgetown University.
Health Commun. 2018 Sep;33(9):1158-1165. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2017.1339370. Epub 2017 Jul 5.
A better understanding of the breast cancer online narrative is important for a clearer conceptualizing of the role of online platforms in mediating health-related support. Sentiment analysis was conducted on a breast cancer online support group regarding Tamoxifen to understand users' emotions and opinions. This analysis was then contextualized within online social support literature. Out of the 498 users, the most active users were 80% more positive than least active users, while least active users were 48% more negative than most active ones; both differences were statistically significant. The higher the stage of cancer a user had, the less likelihood that she would have posted, and if she were to post, the post would have focused on her side effects and the anxiety/sadness that tailgates those side effects. The lower the stage of cancer a user had, the more likelihood that she would have posted, additionally remained active on the forum, and encouraged more (online) social support. This finding suggests that the online support platform may provide a context that exacerbates support for like-minded users where stronger ties are created around a specific sentiment within the community with less connection from those with dissimilar sentiments to the dominant group.
更好地理解乳腺癌的网络叙事对于更清楚地理解在线平台在介导与健康相关的支持方面的作用非常重要。对一个关于他莫昔芬的乳腺癌在线支持小组进行了情感分析，以了解用户的情绪和意见。然后，将此分析置于在线社会支持文献中。在 498 名用户中，最活跃的用户比最不活跃的用户积极 80%，而最不活跃的用户比最活跃的用户消极 48%；这两个差异均具有统计学意义。用户的癌症阶段越高，她发布帖子的可能性就越低，如果她发布帖子，帖子就会集中在她的副作用以及紧随其后的焦虑/悲伤上。用户的癌症阶段越低，她发布帖子的可能性就越高，此外，她在论坛上也更加活跃，并鼓励更多的（在线）社会支持。这一发现表明，在线支持平台可能提供了一个加剧了对志同道合的用户的支持的环境，在这个环境中，围绕着社区内的特定情绪建立了更强的联系，而与那些与主流群体情绪不同的用户的联系较少。
