"Experto crede" : Patient knowledge formation in health communities on Facebook

Abstract

The article explains the processes involved in knowledge sharing and support giving in an open FB forum dedicated to endometriosis. It builds on the existing understanding of experiential knowledge, as well as adopts Jovchelovitch’s (2007) perspective on knowledge diversity and representation which views knowledge construction as an intersubjective process. The analysis looks at the what, the who, and the how of the community in question, focusing in particular on three areas: identity work (self- and other-categorisation); perspective sharing and recognition by “significant others”; and epistemic self-other positioning. The analysis determines the most common strategies of categorisation, identifies ways of constructing shared understanding, as well as reveals that the participants’ personal truths are based primarily on their embodied experience and hearsay.