Cyberframing Cancer: An Exploratory Investigation of Valenced Cybercoping on Cancer Blogs

Abstract

Although scholarship on coping with cancer implies many ways that coping is communicative, the discursive features of coping have been understudied. The purpose of the present investigation was to theorize the content of cancer blogs, a form of cybercoping, by examining valenced coping-relevant frames that bloggers use to describe their experiences with cancer. This research is both theoretically and methodologically innovative. Theoretically, we advance the concept of cyberframing by connecting the rather disconnected literatures on coping and framing and by studying this topic from a communication perspective. Methodologically, this is one of the few studies of coping with cancer that has used naturally occurring communication data to its advantage. A content analysis of cancer blog entries (N = 194) indicated that more than 90% of cancer blog posts were embedded in a valenced frame. The frames were either negative, positive, or balanced; balanced frames varied in the intensity of the valence. The most common frames were positive and balanced with low affect.

Using photos for public health communication: A computational analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Instagram photos and public responses

“…Vos and Buckner 4 analyzed 25,598 tweets about H7N9 (also known as bird flu) virus: they concluded that most of the tweets contained sensemaking information rather than efficacy information that would be useful for responding to the crisis appropriately. Donovan et al 7 conducted a content analysis of 194 cancer blog entries. They found that more than 90 percent of cancer blog posts were written based on a valenced frame: either negative, positive, or balanced.…”

“…Posts with various health-related topics including infectious disease, 3,4 alcohol, 5 obesity, 6 and cancer have been uploaded by SNSs users. 7 Previous studies have focused on the amount, 8 subtopics, 9,10 and content of the SNS posts that were uploaded by individual users. 11 Also, analyzing the use of SNSs operated by public health authorities has taken another part of the literature.…”

Lending ears to unheard voices: An empirical analysis of user‐generated content on social media

“…(2010) conduct a content analysis of the tweets in the healthcare domain on medicines or antibiotics and their effects, reactions, and uses. Other studies are conducted on alcohol consumption (Moreno et al., 2012), cancer blog posts (Donovan et al., 2017), diabetes data (Shaw and Karami 2017), and consumption of e‐cigarettes (Lazard et al., 2017).…”

“…For example, Scanfeld et al (2010) conduct a content analysis of the tweets in the healthcare domain on medicines or antibiotics and their effects, reactions, and uses. Other studies are conducted on alcohol consumption (Moreno et al, 2012), cancer blog posts (Donovan et al, 2017), diabetes data (Shaw and Karami 2017), and consumption of e-cigarettes (Lazard et al, 2017). Yoo et al (2020) conducted a study on the dimensions of social media platforms and humanitarian crisis from the supply side, that is, to understand the phenomenon of building follower networks by HOs on social media platforms.…”

Mapping the online social network of cancer bloggers

“…financial barriers, fertility, posttreatment symptoms, posttraumatic stress and anxiety symptoms). In addition, from a recent content analysis of 194 cancer blog posts, most were framed with a positive or balanced with low affect valence (Donovan et al, 2017). And specifically among young adult cancer patients, 10 main themes were identified (e.g.…”