Breastfeeding peer support on social networking sites

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Employing an online ethnographic research approach, the purpose of this study was to describe the nature of breastfeeding peer support that members seek and receive via closed Facebook groups facilitated by the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA). The quantitative data collection for this netnography was undertaken by the researchers following the activities of 15 individual ABA-sanctioned closed Facebook groups. All wall posts and comments for these groups were captured as images over a 4-week period between July 21 and August 17, 2013. The dataset included 778 wall posts that were coded as 165 (21%) queries and 613 (79%) shares. Of the queries (165), 36% posted with informational queries and 64% posted with informational and emotional queries. In terms of shares (613), 40% posted with informational shares and 60% posted with informational and emotional shares. Of the 778 wall posts, 54% (418) were short (0–25 words); 26% (202) were medium (26–100 words) and 20% (158) were long (100+ words). The findings presented explore the characteristics and contents of the queries and comment responses, illustrating how Facebook can be used to provide social support in addition to learning and coping strategies in this online community.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17-27
Number of pages11
JournalBreastfeeding Review
Volume26
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Facebook (electronic resource)
  • breastfeeding
  • peer support
  • social networks

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