research-article

Collective Sensemaking in Online Health Forums

Authors:

Drashko Nakikj,

Noemie ElhadadAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Pages 3217 - 3226

https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702566

Published: 18 April 2015 Publication History

Abstract

Online health communities collect vast amounts of information and opinions in regards to health and wellness management. However, these opinions are usually stored within lengthy and loosely structured discussion threads; synthesizing information in these threads can be challenging. In this mixed-methods study, grounded in the theoretical perspective of collective sensemaking, we examined patterns of communication within an online diabetes community TuDiabetes. The results of the study suggest that members of TuDiabetes often construct shared meaning through deep discussions, back and forth negotiation of perspectives, and resolution of conflicts in opinions. However, unlike participants of other sensemaking communities, members of TuDiabetes often value multiplicity of opinions rather than consensus. We use study results to draw implications for the design of computing platforms for facilitating collective sensemaking that promote construction of shared knowledge yet embrace diversity of opinions.

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Index Terms

Collective Sensemaking in Online Health Forums
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2015

4290 pages

ISBN:9781450331456

DOI:10.1145/2702123

General Chairs:
Bo Begole
Huawei, USA
,
Jinwoo Kim
Yonsei University, Korea
,
Program Chairs:
Kori Inkpen
Microsoft Research, USA
,
Woontack Woo
KAIST, Korea

Copyright © 2015 ACM.

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Published: 18 April 2015

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CHI '15: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 18 - 23, 2015

Seoul, Republic of Korea

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CHI '15 Paper Acceptance Rate 486 of 2,120 submissions, 23%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686898
Lutz NPadzensky JSchafer JFarzan RLópez CCardoso Llach DQuercia DMustafa MNiu SWong-Villacrés M(2024)Working with Color: How Color Quantization Can Aid Researchers of Problematic InformationCompanion Publication of the 2024 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing10.1145/3678884.3681863(275-282)Online publication date: 11-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3678884.3681863
Adler DChoudhury TKostakos VKay JHoang T(2024)Ubiquitous Computing in Action: Infrastructure to Support Sensing and Mental Health Research in PracticeCompanion of the 2024 on ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing10.1145/3675094.3678372(301-306)Online publication date: 5-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3675094.3678372
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