Knowledge Contribution in Online Health Communities: An Exploratory Examination

In recent years online health communities have emerged as an alternate source of health information for patients. By allowing patients to connect directly with each other these communities provide an easier and more readily accessible means for attaining health information. Yet the continued growth and prosperity of online health communities is contingent on their members being open and willing to share their personal information. Given the sensitive nature of health information it is important to understand the mechanisms supporting the sharing of such information in online health communities. In this paper we present a conceptual model of knowledge contribution in online health communities drawing upon three primary factors: individual personality, context, and structural features of the community. We also propose a study to test the model and discuss the development of a survey instrument