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Predicting users' continued engagement in online health communities from the quantity and quality of received support
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Predicting users' continued engagement in online health communities from the quantity and quality of received support

Xiangyu Wang, Andrew High, Xi Wang and Kang Zhao
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Vol.72(6), pp.710-722
06/2021
DOI: 10.1002/asi.24436
url
https://scholarsphere.psu.edu/resources/4d3cb2c3-0e48-4168-b431-8a45d9b7af9e/downloads/20115View
Open Access

Abstract

Online health communities (OHCs) have been major resources for people with similar health concerns to interact with each other. They offer easily accessible platforms for users to seek, receive, and provide supports by posting. Taking the advantage of text mining and machine learning techniques, we identified social support type(s) in each post and a new user's support needs in an OHC. We examined a user's first-time support-seeking experience by measuring both quantity and quality of received support. Our results revealed that the amount and match of received support are positive and significant predictors of new users' continued engagement. Our outcomes can provide insight for designing and managing a sustainable OHC by retaining users.
Computer Science Computer Science, Information Systems Information Science & Library Science Science & Technology Technology

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