Communities formed by a #
In the research paper by Jonah Berger from University of Pennsylvania titled Facebook Therapy, a study was conducted to test the theory that sharing self-relevant content online (specifically via Facebook) is a way for emotionally unstable individuals to boost their well-being. The study proved that “emotional writing, paired with the potential to receive social support helps them repair well-being after negative experiences”. I could not help but automatically relate this study to the rheumatoid arthritis social media community I have found after being diagnosed and researching for my blog. Although people diagnosed with RA are not all “emotionally unstable”, we can feel physically and emotionally different than if our bodies felt normal. After I was diagnosed with RA and before beginning my current treatment, I was taking a medication that was really hard on my body. What made the pain even more difficult sometimes was that none of my friends or family really understood how I felt or what I was going through. On the outside I might have looked normal, but the pain, fatigue/nausea, and other side effects all contributed to one of the most negative experiences of my life. I never used social media as an outlet to vent, but I can honestly say that if I were presented with some sort of online community where I could share my story and hear from others experiencing the same thing, I would have started sharing content and communicating online in a heartbeat. I did not understand that an online RA community had already been formed. Although it is not prominent on Facebook like the study conducted by Berger, it is on all other social media platforms where communities are formed with a simple hash-tag. The hash-tag I have found that connects the RA community is #rheum. It is the amazing how using the right hash-tag can affect the results you find. After finding #rheum I have started following girls my age via Tumblr and Twitter diagnosed with RA. Many of their posts are about the daily struggles of living with the disease or updates about treatments, news, etc. The amount of support shared on posts, and the positive feedback reciprocated through comments is truly inspiring. I am sure that if it was not for the constant support being shared in the online community, no one would be as inclined to post their struggles publically like they do. Just like in the Facebook study, if it were not for the potential to receive social support, who knows the difference in content that social media sites would have. The fact that people feel comfortable sharing self-relevant information online with the anticipation of creating a conversation (or community) is what makes social media content so valuable and credible.







