Stages of the Diabetes 'Roller Coaster': A Textual Analysis of Tudiabetes.org (R)

Online virtual health communities have recently emerged to engage people with common medical conditions and experiences. Tudiabetes.org® is an example of a peer-to-peer virtual health community that provides an online social platform to exchange ideas, fears, knowledge, and support about the diabetes experience. This study explored the communication of parents within this non-moderated virtual health community surrounding the diagnosis of a child with type 1 diabetes by analyzing the dialogue of a particular tudiabetes.orgâ discussion thread. Textual analysis revealed four emerging stages of the narrative, which structurally resembled a “roller coaster” ride: catastrophic, social support, cathartic release, and “new normal.” Parents exchanged social support through the tudiabetes.org® community and actively constructed meaning for their experiences through interactive dialogue. In this way, the roller coaster ride metaphor emerged and developed along with the parents’ interactive conversation.