Findings and Future Direction

Studies show that caregivers and patients use social media to exchange and gather information. A research-based understanding of conversations on social media platforms will shed light on characteristics of an autism community's support toward its members. This chapter deduces the efficacy of social support provided by the autism community toward its members to cope with daily life challenges.

Research Methodology

Social media and online forums create a community and social network where information flows, and members provide informational, instrumental, or spiritual support. This type of interconnectedness ultimately relieves stress. Social sciences literature offers theoretical definitions for social support and stress. The authors leverage these definitions and employ concepts from linguistics and the social network theory to develop information-theoretic and machine-learning-based models to assess social support and stress among communities. The methodology estimates social support and stress in health communities and evaluates their effectiveness.

Stress Assessment

Social media interaction is a continuous response process. Social media continues to grow as communities exchange knowledge to ease stress and express emotions. A scientific way to measure online interaction and stress reduction is needed. Although literature in social and health science domains contains extensive work on the stress concept, a formal mathematical definition of stress for online interactions does not exist. Hence, the authors have leveraged empirical definitions of stress support available in literature that overlaps with the application domain (i.e., healthcare and online modes of interaction). Using the empirical definition of stress, the authors build a model for assessing stress in online communities.

Autism and Social Media

Social media appears to be an easy and popular platform where parents of autistic children can connect and share their experiences with other families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although modern societies are becoming more isolated and less communal, social information systems provide modes of virtual communication. Social media has become a valuable way to communicate and interact. Communities in the age of the internet have adopted social media to interact with their members. Individuals diagnosed with ASD often exhibit co-occurring sensory processing problems, which present them with difficulties in social settings and communications. Families with members diagnosed with autism rely on community support to reduce depression. Families can connect to other members of the community for knowledge on dealing with autism. Social scientists have found links between social support and individual wellbeing. The autism blogger community provides extensive social support to its community members through social media platforms like blogs and Twitter.

Social Support Assessment

Social media use among communities satisfies eagerness and the transfer of knowledge. However, there is a need for a scientific measurement on the social support and stress dissipated through online interaction. Although an extensive amount of literature on social support exists in social sciences, there is no formal mathematical definition on the topic. This chapter uses the literatures' empirical definitions for social support among communities. This chapter builds a model to access social support in online communities or communities where online interactions take place. This research focuses on healthcare communities, especially autism support groups. However, the models are generalizable and can be applied to other domains.

Social Support and Stress

In today's hyperconnected world, social media provides more than social support. In fact, social scientists have linked it to the wellbeing of individuals. Social media sites provide open and accessible communication platforms for families, caregivers, and individuals with autism. They are able to share, connect, and exchange information. Furthermore, social media is an efficient means of connecting due to communication challenges of autistic individuals. However, there is a need to scientifically measure social support and stress dissipated through online interaction. Using the proposed assessment methodology of social support and stress in online interaction, it is observed that the autism community provides significant social support to its members through Twitter and blogs. Social support facilitated by interactions with autism community members reduces psychological stress and improves the quality of life for the families dealing with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).