Taking into account that HIV/AIDS is highly stigmatized in Russia, online health communities play an important role in providing emotional and informational support to people living with HIV/AIDS. Online health communities can also be considered as an important way of data collection. The purpose of the study was to examine how people living with HIV/AIDS discuss in Internet disclosure of their HIV-status in the context of stigmatization. Data were collected through the web site “Forum for people living with HIV/AIDS”. The processing and analysis of data was carried out in QDAS NVivo. Interpretations of the disease, reported by forum users, vary from total rejection to attempts to justify themselves in front of others. The most negative response to disease reported by users is the concealment of one’s status from sexual partners. There are clearly manifested differences between people who have recently learned about their illness and those who have lived with HIV/AIDS for a long time and have developed some strategies for resistance to stigma and for coping with the disease. Based on the data analyzed, we can hypothesize that the more user perceive the illness as a “punishment” for inappropriate behavior the more difficulties she or he experiences with the disclosure of HIV status. The peer support plays an important role in the acceptance of status and in the reduction of internalized stigma.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternet Science - 5th International Conference, INSCI 2018, Proceedings
EditorsSvetlana S. Bodrunova
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages15-24
Number of pages10
ISBN (Print)9783030014360
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2018
Event5th International Conference on Internet Science, INSCI 2018: Internet in World Regions: Digital Freedoms and Citizen Empowerment - СПбГУ, Институт "Высшая школа журналистики и массовых коммуникаций", St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
Duration: 24 Oct 201826 Oct 2018
Conference number: 5th
http://insci2018.org/
http://insci2018.org

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume11193 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference5th International Conference on Internet Science, INSCI 2018
Abbreviated title INSCI 2018
Country/TerritoryRussian Federation
CitySt. Petersburg
Period24/10/1826/10/18
Internet address

    Research areas

  • Online health community, Status disclosure, Stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS

    Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • Computer Science(all)

ID: 52430012