Social interaction and reflection for behaviour change

Abstract

This article introduces the theme issue on social interaction and reflection for behaviour change. A large body of research exists on systems designed to help users in changing their behaviours, for instance, to exercise more regularly or to reduce energy consumption. Increasingly, these systems focus on multiple users, often to encourage open-ended reflection rather than prescribing a particular course of action. As background for this theme issue, this article presents a literature review on behaviour change support systems that focus on social interaction and reflection. The review highlights five key approaches amongst these systems: social traces, social support, collective use, reflection-in-action, and reflection-on-action. Each approach offers unique benefits but also challenges for the design of behaviour change support systems. We highlight how the articles in this theme issue contribute to our current understanding of these five approaches, and beyond that, set out some broad directions for future work.

Usage of Facebook-and Anonymous Forum -- Based Peer Support Groups Online and Their Influence on Perceived Social Support Types in Weight Loss

“…The downside of social support channels with high self-presentation is that totally anonymous communication is often not possible in public media channels. This might even weaken the interest for social support from these channels, as people may want to separate their everyday lives from the social support group [30]. Furthermore, communication in these kinds of social media channels might be richer compared with that of text-based anonymous online forums because the former offer various possibilities to communicate besides writing (e.g.…”

“…Therefore, social networking sites that are already being used, such as Facebook, may offer great potential for the exchange of social support in already existing infrastructure [30].…”

“…The idea of BCSS is based on persuasive technologies [see e.g. 8] and emphasizes the role of the technological platform in the behavioral change process [27,30].…”

“…Social support is an exchange process between at least two individuals [30,34] aiming to enhance the well-being of the recipient [13,30]. In the BCSS context, social support refers to computer-mediated user-to-user interactions [see 27].…”

“…It remains unclear what kinds of online platforms are the most suitable for providing peer social support. Furthermore, the social support literature has mostly focused on anonymous online communities [30]. As Oh et al [29] noted, more research is required to determine the specific functions of Facebook or other social media that would likely lead to benefits for patients.…”