A social network analysis of supportive interactions on prenatal sites.

Objective: The purpose of this exploratory study was to validate and extend previous research on social support by identifying which dimensions of social support are most commonly exchanged on health-related social networking sites and how social network structure varies with each support dimension exchanged.

Methods: This research applies a multiple case study approach by examining two social networking sites that focus on pregnancy and prenatal health. For one month, support seeking and providing messages were content analyzed and a social network analysis examined the connections between members.

Results: The sample size consisted of 525 support-seeking messages and 1965 support-providing messages. Findings indicate that participants requested informational and emotional support more than esteem and network support, with no requests for tangible support. Findings also suggest participants substituted emotional support for informational support when they were unable to provide the information sought. The social network analysis showed that network structure varied across support dimensions, with the informational and emotional support networks having the largest number of members and greatest density and reciprocity.

Conclusions: This study suggests that online support networks are fairly effective in meeting participants' needs. The support dimension sought was generally provided and when it was not another dimension of support may have been substituted; thus, participants may have benefitted in unintended ways. The data also suggest there may be an optimal network size to support member engagement, whereby too large of a network may facilitate diffusion of responsibility and too small a network may not facilitate enough momentum to support a well-connected community.