Online Health Communities

Internet-based communities where people affected by a shared health condition exchange experiential knowledge, emotional support, and practical coping strategies. Traditionally hosted on dedicated forums, OHCs increasingly exist as “unbounded” communities on mainstream social media platforms such as Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram, where users build community backstages without leaving the platforms they already use. OHCs are a major source of folk knowledge for marginalized disability and mental-health groups, especially where formal medical information fails them.