Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Sociol Health Illn. 2019 Jun;41(5):852-866. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12864. Epub 2019 Jan 23.
This study explores the social organisation of risk within online drug-related communities. Drawing on in-depth interviews with participants from two Norwegian Internet drug forums, the paper illustrates how participation in such forums influenced notions of risk, and how it supported notions of participants as being informed, responsible and empowered. First, the forums facilitated an easy exchange of user-generated drug information, which helped members present themselves as informed and competent. Second, members used the communal resources on the forums to negotiate their drug-using identities, in which they resisted stigma and argued for a responsible drug-using identity. Third, the social inclusion and sense of community within the forums formed the basis for collective support, which helped empower those involved. Conceptualised as community-consumerism, these findings highlight the social mechanisms involved in the information self-sufficiency and decentralisation of authority on the Internet, in which members created an alternative frame of reference for drug use and associated health. The concept of community-consumerism offers a perspective on the social organisation of risk within online communities and ought to be of relevance for future studies on online health-related discourses, not only those related to drugs.
本研究探讨了网络毒品相关社区内风险的社会组织形式。通过对来自挪威两个互联网毒品论坛的参与者进行深入访谈，本文说明了参与此类论坛如何影响风险观念，并支持参与者作为知情、负责和有能力的观念。首先，论坛促进了用户生成的毒品信息的便捷交流，这有助于成员展示自己的知识和能力。其次，成员利用论坛上的公共资源来协商他们的吸毒身份，在这个过程中，他们抵制污名化，并主张负责任的吸毒身份。第三，论坛内的社会包容和社区感为集体支持奠定了基础，这有助于赋予参与者权力。将这些发现概念化为社区消费者主义，突出了互联网上信息自给自足和权力分散所涉及的社会机制，在这些机制中，成员为毒品使用和相关健康创造了一个替代的参考框架。社区消费者主义的概念为在线社区内风险的社会组织提供了一个视角，对于未来与在线健康相关话语的研究，不仅与毒品相关的研究，都应该具有相关性。
