I recently put the finishing touches on an article that examines some of the characteristics of a strong, quality online health community versus those that are weaker in group cohesiveness and sense of community togetherness. The upshot is that when it comes to online support, you should look for communities that:

• Emphasize and reinforce internal rewards (not external rewards)
• Have community ground rules that are enforced by a transparent team of impartial, fair moderators
• Emphasize quality over quantity
• Emphasize personal experiences and sharing over information re-publication (and duplicate posts)
• Foster personal growth, learning and support through expert guides and editors

You can read the full article here:
The Quality of Online Support Communities: People not Posts

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 29 Dec 2006
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.