10.2190/SH.5.1.f W2357T87166W1581 6 Trust and Participation in Online Usenet Self-Help Communities 43 72 20091215 20091215 20091215 20091215 W2357T87166W1581.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=W2357T87166W1581 1 Sherida Ryan Ph.D. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada Vulnerability and self-disclosure make trust formation a key factor in the self-help process. However, the characteristics of online interaction challenge the development of trust. This article describes a study that explored trust and participation in two online self-help communities, one un-moderated and the other moderated. Members of the un-moderated community shared a chronic physical condition and the moderated community members had a chronic psychiatric disability. The research employed observation, analysis of online discussions, e-mail interviews, and comparisons of quantitative participation parameters. The primary difference between the two communities was the moderation process, which prevented any communication from disruptive individuals. The un-moderated community challenged disruptive or suspicious individuals, which often resulted in hostile discussions. The moderated community posted guidelines for participation and encouraged social communication, which facilitated the accumulation of history-based trust. The moderated community exhibited more participation during the observation period.

A. A. (2008). A brief guide to Alcoholics Anonymous. Retrieved January 12, 2008, from <a target="_blank" href='http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/p-42_abriefguidetoaa.pdf'>http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/p-42_abriefguidetoaa.pdf</a>

Andrews, D., Nonnecke, B., & Preece, J. (2003). Electronic survey methodology: A case study in reaching hard-to-involve Internet users. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 16(2), 185-210.

Arguello, J., Butler, B., Joyce, E., Kraut, R., Ling, K. S., Rosé, C., et al. (2006, April 22-28). Talk to me: Foundations for successful individual-group interactions in online communities. Paper presented at the CHI 2006 Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Axelrod, R. M. (1984). The evolution of cooperation. New York: Basic Books.

Barak, A., Boniel-Nissim, M., & Suler, J. (2008). Fostering empowerment in online support groups. Computers in Human Behavior, 24(5), 1867-1883.

Bargh, J. A., & McKenna, K. Y. A. (2004). The Internet and social life. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 573-590.

Blanchard, A. L. (2007). Definition, antecedents and outcomes of successful virtual communities. In N. Kock (Ed.), Encyclopedia of e-collaboration (pp. 126-132). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Boase, J., Horrigan, J., Wellman, B., & Rainie, L. (2006). The strength of Internet ties. PEW Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved July 13, 2007, from <a target="_blank" href='http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Internet_ties.pdf'>http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Internet_ties.pdf</a>

Boon, S. D., & Holmes, J. G. (1991). The dynamics of interpersonal trust: Resolving uncertainty in the face of risk. In R. A. Hinde & J. Groebel (Eds.), Cooperation and prosocial behavior (pp. 167-182). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Borkman, T. (1999). Understanding self-help/mutual aid: Experiential learning in the commons. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Brewer, M. B. (1996). In-group favoritism: The subtle side of intergroup discrimination. In D. M. Messick & A. Tenbrunsel (Eds.), Codes of conduct: Behavioral research and business ethics (pp. 160-171). New York: Russell Sage.

Brewer, M. B. (1999). The psychology of prejudice: Ingroup love or outgroup hate? Journal of Social Issues, 55(3), 429-444.

Burt, R. S., & Knez, M. (1995). Kinds of third-party effects on trust. Rationality and Society, 7(3), 255-292.

Castelfranchi, C., & Tan, Y. H. (2001). The role of trust and deception in virtual societies. Paper presented at the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

Christenson, J., Fendley, K., & Robinson, J. (1994). Community development. In J. Christenson & J. Robinson (Eds.), Community development in perspective (pp. 3-25). Ames, IA: Iowa State University.

Coulson, N. S. (2005). Receiving social support online: An analysis of a computer-mediated support group for individuals living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 8, 580-584. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/ehost/pdf?vid=5&hid=14&sid=6185246d-0961-4f23-bbf3-e9e666c70cb2%40SRCSM2 <a target="_blank" href='http://web.ebscohost.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/ehost/pdf?vid=5&hid=14&sid=6185246d-0961-4f23-bbf3-e9e666c70cb2%40SRCSM2'>http://web.ebscohost.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/ehost/pdf?vid=5&hid=14&sid=6185246d-0961-4f23-bbf3-e9e666c70cb2%40SRCSM2</a>

Cousineau, T. M., Rancourt, D., & Green, T. C. (2006). Web chatter before and after the women's health initiative results: A content analysis of on-line menopause message boards. Journal of Health Communication, 11(2), 133-147.

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Donath, J. (1999). Identity and deception in the virtual community. In M. Smith & P. Kollock (Eds.), Communities in cyberspace (pp. 29-59). London: Routledge.

Ess, C., & AoIR Ethics Working Committee. (2002). Ethical decision-making and Internet research: Recommendations from the AoIR ethics working committee. Approved by AoIR, November 27, 2002. Retrieved February 27, 2006, from <a target="_blank" href='http://aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf'>http://aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf</a>

Eysenbach, G. (2001). Ethical issues in qualitative research on Internet communities. British Medical Journal, 323(November), 1103-1105.

Eysenbach, G., Powell, J., Englesakis, M., Rizo, C., & Stern, A. (2004). Health related virtual communities and electronic support group: Systematic review of the effects of online peer to peer interactions. British Medical Journal, 328(7449), 1166-1171.

Feng, J., Lazar, J., & Preece, J. (2004). Empathy and online interpersonal trust: A fragile relationship. Behaviour and Information Technology, 23(2), 97-106.

Friedman, B., Kahn Jr., P. H., & Howe, D. C. (2000). Trust online. Communications of the ACM, 43(12), 34-40.

Gambetta, D. (1988). Can we trust trust? In D. Gambetta (Ed.), Trust: Making and breaking cooperative relationships (pp. 213-237). New York: Basil Blackwell.

Gidron, B., & Chesler, M. (1994). Universal and particular attributes of self-help: A framework for international and intranational analysis. In F. Lavoie, T. Borkman, & B. Gidron (Eds.), Self-help and mutual aid groups: International and multicultural perspectives (pp. 1-44). New York: Haworth Press.

Goffman, E. (1986). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity (1st Touchstone ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Google. (2008). 20 year archive on Google Groups. Retrieved April 3, 2008, from <a target="_blank" href='http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html'>http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html</a>

Granovetter, M. S. (1985). Economic action and social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 91(2), 481-450.

Greene, J. C. (2005). The generative potential of mixed methods inquiry. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 28(2), 207-211.

Herring, S. (2001). Computer-mediated discourse. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, & H. Hamilton (Eds.), The handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 612-634). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Herring, S. (2004). Computer-mediated discourse analysis: An approach to researching online behavior. In S. Barab, R. Kling, & J. H. Gray (Eds.), Designing for virtual communities in the service of learning (pp. 338-376). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Herring, S. C. (2002). Computer mediated communication on the Internet. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 36, 109-168.

Himanen, P. (2001). The hacker ethic, and the spirit of the information age (1st ed.). New York: Random House.

Hosmer, L. T. (1995). Trust: The connecting link between organizational theory and philosophical ethics. Academy of Management Review, 20(2), 379-403.

Jarvenpaa, S. L., & Leidner, D. E. (1998). Communication and trust in global virtual teams. Journal of Computer- Mediated Communication (online), 3(4). Retrieved August 11, 2007, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue4/jarvenpaa.html <a target="_blank" href='http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue4/jarvenpaa.html'>http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue4/jarvenpaa.html</a>

Jensen, C., Farnham, S. D., Drucker, S. M., & Kollock, P. (2000). The effect of communication modality on cooperation in online environments. Paper presented at the Conference on Human Factors and Computing Systems, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Jones, Q. (1997). Virtual-communities, virtual settlements & cyber-archaeology: A theoretical outline. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (online) 3(3). Retrieved April 11, 2008 from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue3/jones.html <a target="_blank" href='http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue3/jones.html'>http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue3/jones.html</a>

Jøsang, A., Ismail, R., & Boyd, C. (2007). A survey of trust and reputation systems for online service provision. Decision Support Systems, 43(2), 618-644.

Katz, J. (1998). Luring the Lurkers. Slashdot (December 28, 1998). Retrieved from <a target="_blank" href='http://slashdot.org/features/98/12/28/1745252.shtml'>http://slashdot.org/features/98/12/28/1745252.shtml</a>

King, S. A., & Moreggi, D. (1998). Internet therapy and self-help groups: The pros and cons In J. Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the Internet, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal implications (pp. 77-109). San Diego: Academic Press.

Kling, R., & Courtright, C. (2003). Group behavior and learning in electronic forums: A sociotechnical approach. The Information Society, 19(3), 221-235.

Kollock, P. (1999). The production of trust in online markets. In E. J. Lawler, M. Macy, S. Thyne, & H. A. Walker (Eds.), Advances in group processes (Vol. 16, pp. 99-123). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Kramer, R. M. (1999). Trust and distrust in organizations: Emerging perspectives, enduring questions. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 569-598.

Kraut, R., Olsen, J. P., Banaji, M., Bruckman, A., Cohen, J., & Couper, M. (2004). Psychological research online: Report of Board of Scientific Affairs' Advisory Group on the conduct of research on the Internet. American Psychologist, 59(2), 105-117.

Leimeister, J. M., Ebner, W., & Krcmar, H. (2005). Design, implementation, and evaluation of trust-supporting components in virtual communities for patients. Journal of Management Information Systems, 21(4), 101-135.

Lewis, J. D., & Weigert, A. (1985). Trust as a social reality. Social Forces, 63, 967-985.

Luhmann, N. (1979). Trust and power/two works by Niklas Luhmann. Toronto: John Wiley.

Madden, M. (2006). Internet penetration and impact. PEW Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved July 13, 2007, from <a target="_blank" href='http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Internet_Impact.pdf'>http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Internet_Impact.pdf</a>

Madden, M., & Fox, S. (2006). Finding answers online in sickness and in health. PEW Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved July 13, 2007, from <a target="_blank" href='http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Health_Decisions_2006.pdf'>http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Health_Decisions_2006.pdf</a>

Maloney-Krichmar, D., & Preece, J. (2005). A multilevel analysis of sociability, usability, and community dynamics in an online health community. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 12(2), 201-232.

March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1989). Rediscovering institutions: The organizational basis of politics. New York: Free Press.

Mayer, R., Davis, J., & Schoorman, F. (1995). An integration model of organizational trust. The Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709-719.

McAlister, D. J. (1995). Affect and cognition based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 38(1), 24-59.

McKnight, D. H., Cummings, L. L., & Chervany, N. L. (1998). Initial trust formation in new organizational relationships. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 473-490.

Mechanic, D., & Meyer, S. (2000). Concepts of trust among patients with serious illness. Social Science and Medicine, 51(5), 657-668.

Meyerson, D., Weick, K. E., & Kramer, R. M. (1996). Swift trust and temporary groups. In R. M. Kramer & T. R. Tyler (Eds.), Trust in organizations: Frontiers of theory and research (pp. 166-195). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Nissenbaum, H. (2001). Securing trust online: Wisdom or oxymoron? Boston University Law Review, 81(3), 635-664.

Parr, H., & Davidson, J. (2008). Virtual trust: Online emotional intimacies in mental health support. In J. Brownlie, A. Greene, & A. Howson (Eds.), Researching trust and health (pp. 33-53). New York: Routledge.

Pfaffenberger, B. (2003). A standing wave in the web of our communications: Usenet and the socio-technical construction of cyberspace values. In C. Lueg & D. Fisher (Eds.), From Usenet to CoWebs: Interacting with social information space (pp. 20-43). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Preece, J., & Ghozati, K. (2001). Observations and explorations of empathy online. In R. E. Rice & J. E. Katz (Eds.), The Internet and health communication: Experience and expectations (pp. 237-260). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Preece, J., & Maloney-Krichmar, D. (2002). Online communities. In J. Jacko & A. Sears (Eds.), The human-computer interaction handbook (pp. 596-620). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Publishers.

Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Radin, P. M. (2006). "To me, it's my life": Medical communication, trust, and activism in cyberspace. Social Science & Medicine, 62(3), 591-601.

Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Reading, MA Addison-Wesley.

Ridings, C. M., Gefen, D., & Arinze, B. (2002). Some antecedents and effects of trust in virtual communities. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 11(3-4), 271-295.

Riegelsberger, J. (2005). Trust in mediated interactions. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University College London. Retrieved January 3, 2008, from <a target="_blank" href='http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/J.Riegelsberger/PhD_JensRiegelsberger_Web.pdf'>http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/J.Riegelsberger/PhD_JensRiegelsberger_Web.pdf</a>

Rolland, J. S. (1994). Families, illness, and disability: An integrative treatment model. New York: Basic Books.

Rotter, J. B. (1967). A new scale for the measurement of interpersonal trust. Journal of Personality, 35, 615-665.

Rousseau, D., Sitkin, S., Burt, R., & Camerer, C. (1998). Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 393-404.

Ryan, S. (2009). Trust and participation in Usenet self-help groups. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Toronto, Canada.

Smith, M. A. (2003). Measures and maps of Usenet. In C. Lueg & D. Fisher (Eds.), From Usenet to Cowebs (pp. 47-78). London: Springer Verlag.

Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1991, September). Computers, networks and work. Scientific American, 265(3), 116-123.

Stewart, K. J. (2006). How hypertext links influence consumer perceptions to build and degrade trust online. Journal of Management Information Systems, 23(1), 183-210.

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), The psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed., pp. 7-24). Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.

Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Turner, T. C., Smith, M. A., Fisher, D., & Welser, H. T. (2005). Picturing Usenet: Mapping computer-mediated collective action. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 10(4), article 7. Retrieved from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/turner.html <a target="_blank" href='http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/turner.html'>http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/turner.html</a>

Walther, J., B (2002). Research ethics in Internet-enabled research: Human subjects issues and methodological myopia. Ethics and Information Technology, 4(3), 205-216.

Wellman, B., & Gulia, M. (1999). Net surfers don't ride alone. In B. Wellman (Ed.), Networks in the global village (pp. 331-366). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

White, M., & Dorman, S. M. (2001). Receiving social support online: Implications for health education. Health Education Research, 16(6), 693-707.

Witmer, D. F., Colman, R. W., & Katzman, S. L. (1999). From paper-and-pencil to screen-and-keyboard: Toward a methodology for survey research on the Internet. In S. Jones (Ed.), Doing Internet research: Critical issues and methods for examining the Net (pp. 145-161). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Wright, K. B. (2002). Social support within an on-line cancer community: An assessment of emotional support, perceptions of advantages and disadvantages, and motives for using the community from a communication perspective. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 30(3), 195-209.

Yahoo!Groups (2007). Yahoo!Groups: Directory: Health & Wellness. Retrieved August 21, 2007, from <a target="_blank" href='http://health.dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Health___Wellness/'>http://health.dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Health___Wellness/</a>