Gillian Fergie*, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Shona Hilton*, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Kate Hunt, MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Track: Research Presentation Topic: Building virtual communities and social networking applications for patients and consumers Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2014-08-21

If you are the presenter of this abstract (or if you cite this abstract in a talk or on a poster), please show the QR code in your slide or poster (QR code contains this URL).

Background: Social media are increasingly being used by individuals and organisations to create and share online content about both diabetes and common mental health issues. Tweets, status updates, comments, images, video clips and blogs convey varied insights into personal experiences of health and illness, self-management strategies and new research and innovations.
Objective: The aim of the study is to develop an understanding of the multiple ways young adults engage with health-related content online and to identify how social media are used for health information and communication currently, and how this could be developed further. In particular our aim is to explore the ways Facebook, Twitter and YouTube content is interpreted and appropriated, and the impact accessing such content has on experiences of diabetes and common mental health issues.
Methods: The study used qualitative methods to explore young adults’ perspectives. 40 young adults, aged between 18 and 30, with experience of either diabetes or a mental health problem took part in one-to-one, semi-structured interviews. During the interviews participants were asked about their experiences of engaging online with health-related content and their perceptions of a range of different types of content. Interviews were transcribed in full and the resultant data were analysed thematically.
Results: Participants’ experiences of support from family, friends and formal health services appears to impact their online practices: those who described least support in their offline networks were most likely to actively engage in production and consumption of online user-generated content. More broadly, our analysis suggests the complexities inherent in people’s expectations and perceptions of online content about both diabetes and common mental health issues. The social media environment is both dynamic and intricate and negotiating it seems to involve various considerations around the presentation of identity and the experience of health and illness. Conceptions of expert and lay knowledge, expectations of individual differences and commonalities, and management of identities all impact how the young adults perceived and used online health-related content.
Conclusions: Through exploring young adults' perceptions and experiences of engaging with diabetes and mental health related content some issues have been raised which could inform how organisations and charities with an interest in these issues develop online resources. Facilitating the development of virtual communities and social networking opportunities in relation to both diabetes and common mental health issues could be an important means of supporting young adults, particularly those who lack supportive resources elsewhere. However, social media platforms, use of images, videos and text and, the facilitation and administration of user-generated content all impact potential users' perceptions of health-related online content. Considerations about the presentation of identity and concerns about health-related stigma constrain users’ interactions in online spaces and impact how they interpret both organisation and user-generated content.