Table 3.

Qualitative findings on social preferences

Theme	Social component ideas	Illustrative quotes
Technology Increases Social Connectedness	Social media integration	“I know that’s something that motivates me, when I get done with a workout, I either log on to Facebook and post it up there because I have a special group of friends that are just people that workout, so we share all our workouts together. That, for me, is what motivates me, is just to stay in touch with other people that are similar, that have gone through a similar journey as I have.” (p. 238) “The biggest thing ... Facebook pages, Facebook groups, tend ... seem to work really, really well. Especially if someone involved in the study posts something out there, every day. Posts a question, or ‘Tell us how you’re doing today? Marie is having this issue. Give her encouragement.’” (p. 56)
Professional Involvement and Support	Study Staff (coaching calls and texting)	“I think it [behavioral coach] could be extremely, extremely valuable because I think that so many people struggle with it. They [survivors] don’t know what to do. They don’t know how to do it. They don’t know how much to do, so having someone that’s kind of helping them through that or again the app that kind of lays out a plan but then the coach checks in with them to say, ‘How are you doing? What are you struggling with? What can I help you get through?’” (p. 247) “I think to start out something like that, a weekly call would be helpful to help hold people accountable and then gradually scale off to maybe once a month or something as such.” (p. 42) “Maybe a message just ... like, ‘Just checking in. Do you need any help? I’m available at this time today,’ or something. I guess that would be the best for me. Even if they weren’t available at that time, ‘Just send me a text if you have any questions,’ or whatever if you’re not available at those hours.” (p. 101)
	Staff Facilitated Sessions (webinars)	“If you guys are really looking for the interaction between the participants, then I would think you would want a set time that everybody logs in together and has an open chat or whatever.” “It makes it very complicated but I would feel totally cheated out if I missed these. If you do a combination of both, that would be awesome so I could watch it on my own time but if you had a forum or something like that to pop in and do questions, that would be awesome and if you had it live, that would be awesome for the people that could catch it live.” (p. 238)
Connecting with Similar Survivors	General comment on closed group	“I think that if there was this study, and if there is this app, and if there is this common thread through all of its participants, hey we’ve all had breast cancer, it feels safe at that level. I think that could be engaging to me. I would do that, whereas with the Jawbone, I have no idea whether I’m talking with someone in India or Canada or California. Not that any of those places, I wouldn’t want to communicate with those people, but I just feel that the motivations of people within this safe app would be an environment that would be trusted.” (p. 125)
	In App Features that facilitate “Connectedness” (message boards and sharing progress)	“I think where you can post questions and say, you know, I’m really having a tough time today can anybody help me through this? That type of thing so they can give encouragement to one another.” (p. 174) “I like sharing my experiences with people, if it means that it will help them. I’m sure that you’d find a lot of survivors are like that. Maybe I’m wrong, but my idea is that well, we’ve all gone through something and we’ve all made it through it so let’s give it our best shot to make sure it never comes back again. I could see how this could be very useful.” (p. 238)
	Team Assignment	“…I think of teams and having a progress report where people could see they did this many steps in one day or they walked this many miles or whatever, you got the visual aspect to it, people like seeing that and routing for their team and stuff like that. They might go the extra five hundred steps just to win that day or whatever, whatever that may be. I’d say the social aspect is really, really important. It could really work well.” (p. 238) “I like the teams aspect because that gives you an interaction with a few people that are the same level you are, the same age maybe or close to the same age, same level of breast cancer. That type of thing that you’re working with on a weekly basis, maybe, with something going on.” (p. 174)
	Buddy Assignment	“My gut reaction is, if I did have a buddy, I would want it to be someone from the app, another survivor. I think that would create that camaraderie, and sisterhood...and can more understand each other’s experience. Maybe understand each other’s challenge, and the relative uniqueness of being a survivor, and having to deal with some of the after-effects of treatment ... versus a family member.” (p. 56) “I like the idea of having a battle buddy. Somebody who maybe I’m assigned one person I could go back and forth with...Then, it’s a little more personalized, and intimate, and you get to know each other over time, and motivate each other over time. You’re all competing together against yourself, you know what I mean?” (p. 63) “In twelve weeks I don’t know how close you could get to somebody that might be not as effective as someone you know, who knows your history, who knows the importance of staying active to keep cancer away. So I would yes, a buddy, and someone you know.” (p. 204) “The second piece in having it be a spouse, a family member, what have you, the biggest thing that I see there is that it’s so much easier to do something and stick with it if you have the support at home and you have others doing it with you.” (p. 247)
Apprehension Regarding Competitive Social Features	Team Competitions	“…if I’m comparing myself to others and I am falling short, that’s going to make me really depressed…I don’t want to be in a forum where I am competing and comparing. That’s not going to help me. It’s not useful to me. I’d be less likely to use the social aspects of it.” (p. 118) “I never thought of teams in competition. I guess when I think of social interaction I tend to think of cooperation and encouragement rather than competing. I guess personally I probably wouldn’t find competition, that model to be particularly helpful. Just personally. I probably wouldn’t respond to that as much as knowing that I was doing something or trying to do something that a lot of other people were trying to do as well.” (p. 170) “I think so as long it [team competitions] was fostering positive progress and I don’t think anybody wants survivor trash talking or anything. I think that would be cool. Otherwise just to have a time that isn’t competitive that that would also be for like you say the sense of community, that would be equally as good I think.” (p. 220)
	One-on-One Competitions	“…the little feature where you can challenge other people and kind of see how you’re stacking up against your family and your friends. I think that’s kind of motivating too.” (p. 168)