Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and support
Objective While endometriosis is estimated to affect 1 in 10 women globally, awareness of the disease as well as research and funding to fight the disease remains lacking as compared with other chronic diseases. This study examines how social media users utilized Instagram to raise awareness of and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Digital Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251314905 |
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| author | Hyunjin Seo K. Macy Burkett Moses Okocha Huong Ha Rim Chaif Nazra Izhar Michaella Barros Coelho Blessing Jona Azhar Iqbal |
| author_facet | Hyunjin Seo K. Macy Burkett Moses Okocha Huong Ha Rim Chaif Nazra Izhar Michaella Barros Coelho Blessing Jona Azhar Iqbal |
| author_sort | Hyunjin Seo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective While endometriosis is estimated to affect 1 in 10 women globally, awareness of the disease as well as research and funding to fight the disease remains lacking as compared with other chronic diseases. This study examines how social media users utilized Instagram to raise awareness of and mobilize activism around endometriosis by analyzing prominent topics, word associations, and feminism themes in endometriosis-tagged posts on Instagram. Methods We used a mixed-method approach of combining computational analyses (topic modeling and word association) and human coding (qualitative thematic analysis) of Instagram posts on endometriosis. Results Our results show that while Instagram users discussed a variety of issues related to the disease on the social media platform, these issues tend to focus on four topic areas: (i) living with endometriosis, (ii) pregnancy and endometriosis, (iii) awareness and empowerment, and (iv) women's health and wellbeing. In addition, social media users widely incorporated three feminism themes: (i) bringing attention to invisible disability, (ii) solidarity and support among women, and (iii) advocacy and activism around women's health. Conclusion People with endometriosis use Instagram to create an online public sphere for raising awareness of the disease, offering networking and support to other endometriosis patients, and creating a movement for enhancing women's health and wellness. In doing so, they are also addressing sexism and misconceptions about endometriosis that have traditionally contributed to normalizing women's experience of pain associated with endometriosis and consequently delaying endometriosis diagnoses. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9cf41e3dddc14efbbcec76ae534db9c8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2055-2076 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Digital Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-9cf41e3dddc14efbbcec76ae534db9c82025-01-21T11:04:26ZengSAGE PublishingDigital Health2055-20762025-01-011110.1177/20552076251314905Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and supportHyunjin Seo0K. Macy Burkett1Moses Okocha2Huong Ha3Rim Chaif4Nazra Izhar5Michaella Barros Coelho6Blessing Jona7Azhar Iqbal8 William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USA William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USA Grady College of Mass Communication & Journalism, , Athens, GA, USA William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USA William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USA William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USA William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USA William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USA William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, , Lawrence, KS, USAObjective While endometriosis is estimated to affect 1 in 10 women globally, awareness of the disease as well as research and funding to fight the disease remains lacking as compared with other chronic diseases. This study examines how social media users utilized Instagram to raise awareness of and mobilize activism around endometriosis by analyzing prominent topics, word associations, and feminism themes in endometriosis-tagged posts on Instagram. Methods We used a mixed-method approach of combining computational analyses (topic modeling and word association) and human coding (qualitative thematic analysis) of Instagram posts on endometriosis. Results Our results show that while Instagram users discussed a variety of issues related to the disease on the social media platform, these issues tend to focus on four topic areas: (i) living with endometriosis, (ii) pregnancy and endometriosis, (iii) awareness and empowerment, and (iv) women's health and wellbeing. In addition, social media users widely incorporated three feminism themes: (i) bringing attention to invisible disability, (ii) solidarity and support among women, and (iii) advocacy and activism around women's health. Conclusion People with endometriosis use Instagram to create an online public sphere for raising awareness of the disease, offering networking and support to other endometriosis patients, and creating a movement for enhancing women's health and wellness. In doing so, they are also addressing sexism and misconceptions about endometriosis that have traditionally contributed to normalizing women's experience of pain associated with endometriosis and consequently delaying endometriosis diagnoses.https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251314905 |
| spellingShingle | Hyunjin Seo K. Macy Burkett Moses Okocha Huong Ha Rim Chaif Nazra Izhar Michaella Barros Coelho Blessing Jona Azhar Iqbal Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and support Digital Health |
| title | Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and support |
| title_full | Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and support |
| title_fullStr | Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and support |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and support |
| title_short | Social media activism and women's health: Endometriosis awareness and support |
| title_sort | social media activism and women s health endometriosis awareness and support |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251314905 |
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