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Purpose: The goal of this study was to explore the coping strategies of depression sufferers that have worked for them based on the study of an online depression community. Methods: We conducted a thematic narrative analysis of 120 stories posted by the members in the largest online depression community in China. MaxQDA version 18 was used to code the data, and the analytic approach was consistent with the category-centred approach of grounded theory. Results: The study found that the coping strategies mainly include self-reconciliation (e.g., perceiving/accepting feelings, accepting the present self, and holding hope for the future), actions (recreational activities, physical exercise, and engaging in volunteer work), addressing the stressors and symptoms (e.g., staying away from stressors, seeing the doctor), and seeking interpersonal support (e.g., seeking support from family, friends, and peers). Conclusion: The findings revealed the coping strategies that were helpful and examined how they functioned for the affected members, which make up for the lack of attention to the individual experiences of depression sufferers in coping research. The findings also have practical implications for the related education and consultation, providing useful insights for doctors and patients. These ways of coping are based on depression sufferer' anonymous narratives, which can be convincing to clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During public health emergencies, online community users can obtain social support and assistance through information interaction in the online community. This study takes the COVID-19 pandemic as the context and aims to analyze the influence of user information interaction in online communities on the acquisition of social support during this public health emergency. Methods: Data collected from help-seeking posts in the "COVID-19 Patients Help-Seeking Dialog" subforum on China's Sina Weibo were used as the research sample. The influence of the frequency of interaction and responsiveness on help seekers' receipt of online social support was analyzed, and the moderating effect of help seekers' identity type and intensity of online community use was explored. Results: The results reveal that the frequency of interaction positively impacts informational support (β = 0.367, p < 0.001) and negatively impacts emotional support (β=-0.240, p < 0.001), and the responsiveness of other users toward help-seeking posts positively impacts emotional support (β = 0.145, p < 0.01). Moreover, help seeker's identity type and intensity of online community use significantly moderate the relationship between the frequency of interaction and the emotional support obtained by the help seeker. Conclusions: The study highlights the impact of user information interaction on obtaining help-seeking information from online communities for social support. The initiative would facilitate the resolution of issues related to users' information help-seeking during public health emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to foreground the concept of 'affective mediation,' which is defined as an interventionist process in translation wherein affect is matched, managed, and modulated between communicating bodies. Situated in the context of fan translation, this study utilizes a multimodal analysis of the subtitling practice of Hiddles' Translation Army of China, a Chinese internet-based, celebrity-oriented fan translation group, and identifies three ways its fansubbers mediate affect toward the object of fandom, i.e., British actor, Tom Hiddleston. The findings suggest that the fansubber's mediation is conducive to restructuring the affective configuration in the target text and creates a site for emotive performance in fansubbing. The study also argues that affect-mediated fansubbing opens a new space outside the diegetic zone for an imagined interaction and relationship between the entire fandom community and the object of fandom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social determinants of public health have gained increasing attention. This paper studied whether social support from online communities related to maternal mental health. We focused on online maternity communities that group users with a similar prenatal status to facilitate their exchange of personal experiences and knowledge about maternal caring during pregnancy. Such online maternity communities are getting increasingly popular and can be found across countries and societies. We invited users—currently pregnant and gave birth within 1 year at the time of the study—from one such community in China to participate in a survey. The survey measured their perceived social support (PSS) exclusively from the peer group in the online community, their mental health and newborns' birth outcomes (N = 500). Users reported high score in PSS from the online peer group which was comparable to the ones from family, significant other and friends in other studies. We used linear regression models to examine the effects of PSS on mental health and birth outcomes. We found that a one‐point increase in the PSS score was associated with a 0.19‐point (p < 0.1) decrease in the prenatal depression and a 0.26‐point (p < 0.01) decrease in the postnatal depression, which was equivalent to 3% and 4.5% of the average respectively. Moreover, a one‐point increase in the PSS score was associated with a 14.49‐gram increase in a newborn's weight (p < 0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the influence of the type (positive vs. negative) and source (patients' online community vs. general online community) of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on consumers' health care-seeking decisions. Participants in this 2 × 2 between-subjects study comprised 160 patients who had sought medical advice at a large Tier 3, Class A hospital in China in 2019. The results show that negative (vs. positive) eWOM had a greater influence on consumers' health care-seeking decisions, with similar results for the patients' (vs. general) online community. In addition, positive eWOM from the patients' (vs. general) online community had a greater influence on participants' health care-seeking decisions but the result was not significant for negative eWOM. Credibility of eWOM also mediated the relationship between eWOM and health care-seeking decision. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behavior of Web surfers can highlight or suppress environmental pollution-related incidents, so it is important to explore their behavior and the factors that influence them. Thus, based on a questionnaire survey conducted in China, we studied the behavior of Web surfers in response to environmental pollution-related online posts and the factors that influenced them. The results showed that half of the surveyed Web surfers commented on the environmental pollution-related posts. In terms of posts regarding complaints, lawsuits, or mass protests in the virtual community, 16.46% Web surfers answered they would participate in the activities in real life. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that different types of posts had positive correlations with the reposting, commenting, and browsing behaviors of Web surfers, while the sources of posts also had positive correlations with browsing behaviors. The different types and sources of posts both had positive correlations with behavior regarding complaints, lawsuits, or mass protests by Web surfers. Gender only had a positive correlation with the commenting behavior of Web surfers. These findings could support decision-making regarding policies to help prevent environmental pollution-related incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new product design paradigm has arisen as online design communities focus on virtual collaboration. The growth of design communities such as Zhubajie has hastened the shift from traditional design to digital design. These communities are digital ecosystems that include designers, users, managers, and design environments. Understanding the role of designers and the variety of their design performances is necessary to provide individualized incentives for diverse designers. Traditional research, on the other hand, has largely investigated role heterogeneity from the standpoint of user interaction and has rarely differentiated designer variation from an ecological perspective. In this exploratory article, we present an ecological niche theory-based discriminative model of designers and evaluate it using design data from Zhubajie, China's largest design community. We identify four sorts of designers: beginners, imitators, pioneers, and leaders, utilizing design niche and cluster analysis. These four types of designers differ even more in terms of staffing ratios and design performance. At the theoretical level, our research sheds light on differentiating the functions of designers and explaining their various ecological performances. On a practical level, the study instructs participants on how to engage in design tasks in an effective and structured manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The goal of this study was to explore the coping strategies of depression sufferers that have worked for them based on the study of an online depression community., Methods: We conducted a thematic narrative analysis of 120 stories posted by the members in the largest online depression community in China. MaxQDA version 18 was used to code the data, and the analytic approach was consistent with the category-centred approach of grounded theory., Results: The study found that the coping strategies mainly include self-reconciliation (e.g., perceiving/accepting feelings, accepting the present self, and holding hope for the future), actions (recreational activities, physical exercise, and engaging in volunteer work), addressing the stressors and symptoms (e.g., staying away from stressors, seeing the doctor), and seeking interpersonal support (e.g., seeking support from family, friends, and peers)., Conclusion: The findings revealed the coping strategies that were helpful and examined how they functioned for the affected members, which make up for the lack of attention to the individual experiences of depression sufferers in coping research. The findings also have practical implications for the related education and consultation, providing useful insights for doctors and patients. These ways of coping are based on depression sufferer' anonymous narratives, which can be convincing to clients.

This article examines how Chinese disabled people use the Internet to create active constituencies and the potential for this to afford the opportunity for a new form of activism. Based on a content analysis of China's two largest disability online forums, the article documents disabled people's online activities. These include the description of everyday activities, the build-up of social relations, and organisation and mobilisation for changes. The analysis suggests the emergence of new disability constituencies. This, the article argues, is starting to reshape dis-ability politics and develop new disability activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile phone-based user-generated-content (UGC) online community applications have gained increasing popularity among young generations. However, factors that may affect usage behaviour regarding the applications are not fully investigated. In this study, we employed the Technology Acceptance Model as the basis to explore factors that are able to predict user reposting behaviour with the applications. University students (N = 322) completed a self-reported questionnaire for measuring the studied constructs after they experienced a high-fidelity prototype of a mobile UGC online community application. Results from path analysis demonstrated that perceived usefulness and attitude towards usage were significant determinants of user reposting intention, with 23% of its variance explained. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and information credibility directly predicted attitude towards usage and accounted for 45% of its variance. Perceived ease of use exerted influence on both perceived usefulness and information credibility. The findings can enhance our understanding of factors that contribute to user reposting behaviour and provide insight into design and implementation strategies to increase the likelihood of user intention to repost information using mobile UGC online community applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how digital technology can shape cultural practice in Chinese online communities. By using the concepts of boundary and identity, it explores the formation of two online punk communities in China, created by those who are interested in punk music originating from Anglo-American countries. Drawing on data from participant observation and 10 in-depth interviews, this article first reviews literature on Internet culture in China, online communities, boundaries, and identity. It then focuses on the differing practices of the two online punk communities. A discussion is subsequently provided concerning how boundaries are constructed in online communities through the exclusion that is enabled by the technological platform. An analysis of how the members identify themselves with online communities and form punk subcultures encouraged by the boundaries of their respective communities is then presented towards the end of the article. It is through this process that the members empower themselves in their relationships with the surrounding society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer voluntary sharing of e-service knowledge in an online community is of great value to both business and consumers. This study develops and tests a research model integrating two personal attributes (consumer innovativeness and subjective knowledge) and two e-service factors (perceived ease of use and usefulness) in predicting consumer voluntary knowledge sharing in an online community. Data were collected using a web-based survey of 364 airline travelers recruited through an online travel community in China. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to analyze the data. The results reveal that personal factors are stronger drivers of knowledge sharing than e-service factors. This study advances consumer knowledge sharing in online communities, and has implications for enhancing a firm’s e-service strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Henry Jenkins, inConvergence Culture, argues that “[p]opular culture may be preparing the way for a more meaningful public culture”. This article examines this argument in the context of online translation communities in China, which originated from fan groups interested in foreign comics, games, movies, and television dramas. Drawing on evidence collected through participant observation and 23 in-depth interviews, this article first reviews the historical development and the structural layout of such online translation communities. It then focuses on the motivations of their members to contribute to the translation tasks, which show that personal interests speak louder than collective goals. Finally, it analyzes how the collaboration structure, mindset of collaboration, skills, and sense of agency are transferred from translating entertainment content to civic education content (i.e. open courses). Participatory culture fostered through fan activities is found to be transferred into civic engagement; however, the transfer between fan activism and political participation is yet to be seen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a discussion of the website chinaSMACK (http://www.chinasmack.com) as an example of an attempt to create an online, cross-cultural community to further the mutual understanding between Chinese and non-Chinese. The site has become one of the most visited English-language websites about China, and attracts many regular visitors who engage in spirited debates about the posts, as well as about China in general. It is argued that the site has achieved the opposite of what its' founders intended. Instead of building a bridge between Chinese and non-Chinese, the site is emphasizing differences, and 'defining' Chinese-ness as an expression of the shared imagination of its users. In the context of online communities in general, this raises the question whether cross-cultural online groups are possible at all, given the need of communities to define themselves against a posited group of others or outsiders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the issue of teachers’ professional vulnerability using a range of messages from an online teachers’ community on the Chinese mainland. The study reveals how macro changes at policy level impact on teachers’ professional relationships and in turn their professional identities in teacher discussants’ perceptions. Furthermore, the paper argues that the Chinese cultural tradition somehow adds to teachers’ professional vulnerability. While the tradition used to give teachers authority, it imposes burdens on teachers and subjects them to close scrutiny, which consequently make them feel more vulnerable. The paper concludes with critical reflections on its methodology and findings, calling for further research into the issue. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]