Table 4.
Frequency of the four different functions of social support
| Source | Total number of posts analysed | Emotional support | Instrumental support | Informational support | Companionship support | Not considered social support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twitter #LCSM and #LungCancer | 2897 | 168 (5.8%) | 9 (0.3%) | 842 (29.1%) | 686 (23.7%) | 1307 (45.1%) |
| Facebook Lung Cancer Support Group | 2597 | 1333 (51.3%) | 0 (0%) | 1421 (54.7%) | 71 (2.7%) | 0 (0%) |
| Macmillan.org.uk lung cancer discussion forum | 266 | 178 (66.9%) | 0 (0%) | 174 (65.4%) | 33 (12.4%) | 0 (0%) |
The categories were not considered mutually exclusive