Online discussion boards are a common forum in which everyday users share
troubles, elicit various forms of empathy and sympathy, and also seek advice
from others. One challenge facing participants, as well as analysts, is the interpretation
of expressions of discontent or dissatisfaction as either troubles talk,
complaining, seeking advice, or some combination of these, given that each
of these social actions/activities invokes a distinct preference structure and
presumed differences in what counts as an affiliative or disaffiliative response.
In this paper, drawing on an analysis of threads in a Taiwanese online parenting
discussion board, we propose that one way in which participants navigate
this complex array of preferences and (dis)affiliative responses is through the
instantiation of a locally situated participation order, which is both afforded and
constrained by the interactions that are mediated via online discussion boards.
We further argue that emotional support can be indicated through both affiliative
responses, such as mutual encouraging, mutual bemoaning, and empathic
suggesting, as well as through disaffiliative responses, such as accusing and
advising. We conclude that soliciting emotional support constitutes an important
relational practice in online parenting discussion boards, whereby a warrant
for sharing troubles with acquaintances and even strangers is established
for these kinds of interactions.
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[no author supplied]
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[no author supplied]
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