Nazanin Andalibi

“Hunger Hurts but Starving Works”: Characterizing the Presentation of Eating Disorders Online

Within the CSCW community, little has been done to systematically analyze online eating disorder (ED) user generated content. In this paper, we present the results of a cross-platform content analysis of ED-related posts. We analyze the way that hashtags are used in ad-hoc ED- focused networks and present a comprehensive corpus of ED-terminology that frequently accompanies ED activities online. We provide exemplars of the types of ED-related content found online. Through this characterization of activities, we draw attention to the increasingly important role that these platforms play and how they are used and misappropriated for negative health purposes. We also outline specific challenges associated with researching these types of networks online. CAUTION: This paper includes media that could potentially be a trigger to those dealing with an eating disorder or with other self-injury illnesses. Please use caution when reading, printing, or disseminating this paper.

Sensitive Self-disclosures, Responses, and Social Support on Instagram: The Case of #Depression

People can benefit from disclosing negative emotions or stigmatized facets of their identities, and psychologists have noted that imagery can be an effective medium for expressing difficult emotions. Social network sites like Instagram offer unprecedented opportunity for image-based sharing. In this paper, we investigate sensitive self-disclosures on Instagram and the responses they attract. We use visual and textual qualitative content analysis and statistical methods to analyze self-disclosures, associated comments, and relationships between them. We find that people use Instagram to engage in social exchange and story-telling about difficult experiences. We find considerable evidence of social support, a sense of community, and little aggression or support for harmful or pro-disease behaviors. Finally, we report on factors that influence engagement and the type of comments these disclosures attract. Personal narratives, food and beverage, references to illness, and self-appearance concerns are more likely to attract positive social support. Posts seeking support attract significantly more comments. CAUTION: This paper includes some detailed examples of content about eating disorders and self-injury illnesses.

Depression-related Imagery on Instagram

Despite the well-established finding that people share negative emotions less openly than positive ones, a hashtag search for depression-related terms in Instagram yields millions of images. In this study, we examined depression-related images on Instagram along with their accompanying captions. We want to better understand the role of photo sharing in the lives of people who suffer from depression or who frame their experience as such; specifically, whether this practice engages support networks and how social computing systems can be designed to support such interactions. To lay the groundwork for further investigation, we report here on content analysis of depression-related posts.

Announcing Pregnancy Loss on Facebook: A Decision-Making Framework for Stigmatized Disclosures on Identified Social Network Sites

Pregnancy loss is a common experience that is often not disclosed in spite of potential disclosure benefits such as social support. To understand how and why people disclose pregnancy loss online, we interviewed 27 women in the U.S. who are social media users and had recently experienced pregnancy loss. We developed a decision-making framework explaining pregnancy loss disclosures on identified social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook. We introduce network-level reciprocal disclosure, a theory of how disclosure reciprocity, usually applied to understand dyadic exchanges, can operate at the level of a social network to inform decision-making about stigmatized disclosures in identified SNSs. We find that 1) anonymous disclosures on other sites help facilitate disclosure on identified sites (e.g., Facebook), and 2) awareness campaigns enable sharing about pregnancy loss for many who would not disclose otherwise. Finally, we discuss conceptual and design implications. CAUTION: This paper includes quotes about pregnancy loss.

Relationship breakup disclosures and media ideologies on Facebook

After relationship breakups, people must make difficult decisions about whether and how to convey this change in a networked environment. To understand and characterize behaviors around breakup disclosures, we analyzed survey responses from 119 US Facebook users who reported experiencing a recent breakup. Using mixed methods, we find that those perceiving Facebook as a more efficient disclosure medium are more likely to announce breakups. We show how media ideologies around Facebook breakup disclosures vary; yet people assume others hold similar beliefs about what is appropriate. We contribute to self-disclosure and online identity literature by identifying two new ways people engage in disclosure and self-presentation on social media: announcements, which highlight how social media can serve as efficient one-to-many disclosure sources, and private status change behaviors, a reflexive means of self-presentation. Understanding breakup disclosures provides insight into designing social media to better enable users to find support during difficult life transitions.

CHI 2017 Stories Overview

CHI Stories is a new venue introduced at CHI 2017. A diverse set of storytellers describe personal experiences that shaped who they are and how they came to the field of Human-Computer Interaction.

Social Media for Sensitive Disclosures and Social Support: The Case of Miscarriage

I study self-disclosure and investigate ways in which social computing systems can be designed to allow people to disclose negatively-perceived or stigmatized experiences and find support in their social networks. My prior work has given me insight about online disclosures of depression and sexual abuse, the role of anonymity in support seeking, and the ways that people respond to such disclosures. In my dissertation I will use miscarriage as a context to investigate online disclosure and response practices around stigmatized and traumatizing topics with the goal of improving both theory and social media design practices.

Information Fortification: An Online Citation Behavior

In this multi-method study, we examine citation activity on English-language Wikipedia to understand how information claims are supported in a non-scientific open collaboration context. We draw on three data sources-edit logs, interview data, and document analysis-to present an integrated interpretation of citation activity and found pervasive themes related to controversy and conflict. Based on this analysis, we present and discuss information fortification as a concept that explains online citation activity that arises from both naturally occurring and manufactured forms of controversy. This analysis challenges a workshop position paper from Group 2005 by Forte and Bruckman, which draws on Latours sociology of science and citation to explain citation in Wikipedia with a focus on credibility seeking. We discuss how information fortification differs from theories of citation that have arisen from bibliometrics scholarship and are based on scientific citation practices.

Social Support, Reciprocity, and Anonymity in Responses to Sexual Abuse Disclosures on Social Media

Seeking and providing support is challenging. When people disclose sensitive information, audience responses can substantially impact the disclosers wellbeing. We use mixed methods to understand responses to online sexual abuse-related disclosures on Reddit. We characterize disclosure responses, then investigate relationships between post content, comment content, and anonymity. We illustrate what types of support sought and provided in posts and comments co-occur. We find that posts seeking support receive more comments, and comments from “throwaway” (i.e., anonymous) accounts are more likely on posts also from throwaway accounts. Anonymous commenting enables commenters to share intimate content such as reciprocal disclosures and supportive messages, and commenter anonymity is not associated with aggressive or unsupportive comments. We argue that anonymity is an essential factor in designing social technologies that facilitate support seeking and provision in socially stigmatized contexts, and provide implications for social media site design. CAUTION: This article includes content about sexual abuse.

Self-disclosure and Response Behaviors in Socially Stigmatized Contexts on Social Media: The Case of Miscarriage

I investigate self-disclosure and the ways in which social computing systems can be designed to allow people to disclose sensitive or stigmatized experiences and find and provide support in their online social networks. My prior work has given me insight about online disclosures of mental illness and sexual abuse, the role of anonymity in support seeking, the ways that people respond to such disclosures, and nuances of supportive interactions. In my dissertation I focus on miscarriage as a context to investigate online disclosure and response behaviors around often stigmatized and traumatizing topics with the goal of improving both theory and social media design practices.