| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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Many replies can be posted to one request in a forum, but it cannot be assumed that every reply contains the same type of support. As Wellman and Wortley (1990) report, “although 87% [of network ties] provide some kind of support…, less than half of the network members (45%) provide both emotional aid and small services” (p. 563). Network analysis provides a means of categorizing ties according to shared characteristics to gain explanatory power over variations in the supportive process of ties. So for example, tie strength categorizes ties according to the level of closeness between two individuals, lending explanatory power to the types of support a tie will transmit. Granovetter (1973) demonstrated how weak ties provided greater access to information about getting a job, whereas Litwak (1985) found that weak ties limited the availability of assistance with activities of daily life.
An Electronic Social Network
Although a social network perspective is best suited for this study, it is not appropriate to treat relations on the Forum as a traditional face-to-face network. The network these actors constitute is more accurately characterized as an electronic social network8 because all relations on the SOL-Cancer Forum are maintained solely through online interactions. Naturally occurring online forums, like the SOL-Cancer Forum, are not extensions of face-to-face groups, nor are they hybrids of face-to-face groups and online interactions. They are made up of relations that form in a manner and environment like none other. Members make first contact online, and most, if not all, of their interactions stay online so that there is a complete lack of physical interaction or contact.9 They tend to be large in numbers, prohibiting all participants from having relations with all others, yet, unlike face-to-face social networks, every interaction is broadcast for all members to see.