- 期刊
- OpenAccess
Network Analysis of an Interactive Health Network
摘要
Social network applications have gained popularity in the health domain as they bring patients and physicians together. By employing a network science perspective, this research aims to understand users' habitual tendencies for establishing connections (that is, establishment of ties) as they engage in health-related interactions on online interactive health networks. We examine the initiation of tying wishes and the resulting ties as discrete networks for one of the leading interactive health networks in Europe. We show that tying and tie networks reveal intriguing habitual tendencies among users, in particular between patients and physicians. We found that dyadic relations prevail in tie formation on an online interactive health network. The underlying cohesive force in the interactive health network is physicians-to-patients interactions. Mechanisms of homophily, network growth and preferential attachment may not always be explicit. We emphasize that heterophily and health taboos are essential factors to explain the differences between the tying and tie networks.