Online Stigma Resistance in the Pro-Ana Community

Abstract

Media scholars often use concepts from Goffman's dramaturgical approach to study online communities of stigmatized individuals as "backstages," spaces where members take refuge from social disapproval. In this study, I extend this view through an examination of in-depth interviews with bloggers from the "pro-ana" community, an online community for people with eating disorders. To explore how this community uses an online environment that is both anonymous and public, I fuse Goffman's ideas about identity performance and stigma with more recent theories about boundary maintenance. In-depth interviews with "pro-ana" bloggers reveal that to protect this virtual group and resist stigmas associated both with their illness and with their online presence, they construct their own norms and rules in the online realm, and discipline and eject members deemed to be out-group.

Addressing Stigma Through a Virtual Community for People Living with HIV: A Mixed Methods Study of the PositiveLinks Mobile Health Intervention

“…Though this was a pilot study with small numbers, this finding suggests a positive impact for a virtual support group as part of a feasible and acceptable intervention to address HIV-related stigma. This study builds on prior work indicating that virtual support groups can improve stigma in mental illness through building the self-confidence of posters and creating a community of acceptance and shared identity [ 38 – 42 ].…”

“…While most online mental health support groups have been predominantly female [ 38 , 39 ], our study population was primarily male. Interestingly, changes in stigma scores were more favorable for males.…”

“…In recent years, web-based and mobile health tools have gained attention in addressing stigma and social support. Emerging evidence suggests that stigma related to mental illness can be mitigated using virtual support group strategies [ 38 – 42 ]. Through online connections, individuals can overcome social isolation and gain support from others facing similar challenges, while maintaining anonymity.…”

Transformation of Adolescent Peer Relations in the Social Media Context: Part 2—Application to Peer Group Processes and Future Directions for Research

“…Simultaneously, the features of social media may create a context in which these behaviors are reinforced, imitated, and made to feel “normative” within certain online communities—thus reinforcing and encouraging such behaviors (for a review, see Reid and Weigle 2014). A qualitative study of pro-anorexia bloggers, for example, suggests that the stigma associated with eating disorders offline is what drives many individuals to such sites; once there, however, powerful norms regarding language and behavior may reinforce individuals’ eating disorder identities (Yeshua-Katz 2015). Studies also highlight the ease and scale with which such content can be socialized, indicating that many pro-eating disorder Twitter accounts have hundreds of followers, approximately half of whom have also posted pro-eating disorder tweets (Arseniev-Koehler et al 2016).…”

Overcoming Alzheimer’s Disease Stigma by Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technologies

“…Groups can be beneficial in helping individuals in fighting stigma and reduce its internalization [10,11]. However, the maintenance of ingroups and outgroups in communities of those with stigmatizing experiences can have an isolating and polarizing effect on its members, with them avoiding stigma rather than fighting it, ultimately having negative consequences for the group participants [12,13]. As much of the research into the impact of these groups has been done on those suffering from stigmatized mental illness, it is unclear how these findings translate to AD.…”