Table 1.
Previous studies of online support in health-related social networking sites.
| Study | Data set |
| McCormack [6] | Eating disorder |
| Preece [19] | Torn knee ligament, 500 messages, April 1996–April 1997 |
| Bambina [21] | Support OnLine Cancer Forum, 84 members,1149 messages |
| Braithwaite et al [28] | Support Network for disabilities, 42 users, 1472 messages |
| Meier et al [31] | Association of Cancer Online Resources |
| Cunningham et al [32] | Alcoholism, 10 months, 474 posts (moderated) |
| Coursaris et al [33] | HIV/AIDSa, 5000 messages |
| Eichhorn [34] | 5 eating disorder message boards, 490 messages |
| Pfeil and Zaphiris [35] | Depression/seniors, discussion forum |
| Selby et al [36] | StopSmokingCenter.net (moderated) (November 6, 2004–May 15, 2007 |
a Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.