Digital atmospheres

Affective practices of care in Elefriends

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2249247
AutoresIan Tucker (0000-0002-1314-2222, University of East London, autor de correspondencia), Ian M Tucker (School of Psychology University of East London UK), Lewis Goodings (0009-0009-3439-4435, School of Psychology University of East London UK)
Año2017
Volumen39
Número4
Páginas629-642
Fecha de publicación2017-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.12545
PMID28326556
OpenAlexW2601789926
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas43
Referencias citadas34

This article develops the concept of digital atmosphere to analyse the affective power of social media to shape practices of care and support for people living with mental distress. Using contemporary accounts of affective atmospheres, the article focuses on feelings of distress, support and care that unfold through digital atmospheres. The power of social media intersects with people's support and care-seeking practices in multiple ways and not in a straightforward model of 'accessing or providing support'. Indeed, we find that the caring relations developed through social media often need to be cared for themselves. The article draws on online and interview data from a larger project investigating how practices of care and support are (re)configured in the mental health-related social media site Elefriends. Users have to negotiate the disruption of moving support online, as well as the possibility of becoming subject to a fragility in care, in which caring for oneself becomes bound up in the ambiguities of caring for others. We argue that understanding how experiences of distress are shaped by social media is essential for understanding the implications of the increased digitisation of mental healthcare

Atmosphere (unit) · Digital media · Distress · Feeling · Health care · Mental health · Mental health care · Negotiation · Political science · Power (physics) · Psychotherapist · Social media · Sociology · Subject (documents) · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Mental Health Interventions · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Mental Health via Writing · Psychology · Social Psychology