No abstract

People who undergo ostomy surgery are often worried about being stigmatized. Ostomates explain that they appreciate contact with others who can relate to their experiences and are concerned with where to get advice and support about their ostomies. Internet communities are one outlet to challenge stigma and find support, and the web site Uncover Ostomy is one such community. The web site is the work of Jessica Grossman, a college student who challenges ostomy stigma through provocative photos. Through the associated Facebook fan page, users upload their own photos uncovering their ostomies. This project examined uploaded photos to see how people challenge stigma using new media technology. Additionally, the project examined comments left by Facebook users to understand how the ostomy community reacted to these photos. Implications of such spaces for users to challenge a stigmatizing condition are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to explore the types of social support messages YouTube users posted on medical videos. Specifically, the study compared messages posted on inflammatory bowel disease-related videos and ostomy-related videos. Additionally, the study analyzed the differences in social support messages posted on lay-created videos and professionally-created videos. Conducting a content analysis, the researchers unitized the comments on each video; the total number of thought units amounted to 5,960. Researchers coded each thought unit through the use of a coding scheme modified from a previous study. YouTube users posted informational support messages most frequently (65.1%), followed by emotional support messages (18.3%), and finally, instrumental support messages (8.2%).