How Do Men Who Post Publicly on Social Media Author Themselves and Their Experiences of Crohn’s Disease? A Dialogical Analysis of Three Cases

Despite distinct sex- and gender-related differences in the presentation and manifestation of Crohn’s disease (CD), little research to date has considered men’s particular experiences. Whilst hegemonic masculine ideals have been reported to negatively impact men’s mental and physical health, increasingly research has emphasized that men engage in a diverse range of practices, including those beneficial to health. One such practice is posting about their illness experiences on social media. The interactive nature of posting online means that a dialogical approach, based on a relational epistemology, is particularly useful. This study therefore asked: “How do men who post publicly on social media author themselves and their experiences of CD?” Three participants were recruited, all of whom had a diagnosis of CD, wrote a blog, and posted on other social networking sites (SNSs) about CD. Two resided in Canada and one in the United Kingdom. All were white. For each participant, 2 years of multimodal social media data was downloaded. After screening, in-depth analysis was conducted using a dialogical approach focusing on three key dialogical concepts: genre, chronotope, and forms of authorship. The key findings emphasized the participants’ different responses to the lack of predictability caused by CD and the different ways they used social media to gain a greater sense of control over their illness stories and identities, providing important insights into the interaction between masculine identities and illness. Finally, the potential deployment of such methods in future research and within therapeutic contexts was considered.