Typology of Activist Health Associations in Social Media

Abstract

The study of online health activism demands new theoretical models because of the changed public environment affected by digitalization. Thanks to the features of digital communication in social media, forms of citizens’ associations that previously manifested themselves at a small, local level and / or were episodic have scaled up and became more stable. At the same time, 'traditional' organizations that represent the interests of different social groups in relation to health, access to medical care, etc., have also occupied their respective niches in the digital public space. The purpose of our theoretical analysis was to create a typology of activist health associations present in social media. In order to do it, we used the key elements of the theory of social movements: the requirements for collective action, identity, types of social ties (strong and weak), and emotions. Based on these variables, we described four main types of online health communities, depending on their main unifying factor, namely formal structure, expertise, politically charged emotions, and individuals in need of medical care. Adapting the model of multiple public spheres proposed by Elizabeth Breeze, we divided these types of online associations concerning their potential impact on the institutional environment and the social group they represent. The dimensions along which we ranked each type of online activist community included the potential for influence (political / civic) and the presence or absence of offline representation in the public sphere. The last dichotomy allows us to take into account whether activist associations can interact directly with state institutions. The developed typology of activist online health associations improves the quality of empirical research on digital activism and provides opportunities to include such forms of social movements in normative analysis.