Language use in online support provision: the impact of
others’ supportive messages, support-seeking strategy,
and channel publicness

Language use in online support provision: the impact of
others’ supportive messages, support-seeking strategy,
and channel publicness

social support, language use, LIWC, computer-mediated communication, lens model

People benefit from high-quality supportive messages online, yet the production of these messages is a complex process that is shaped by
multiple factors. As informed by the lens model, this study seeks to investigate the interplay of third party’s supportive messages as a form of
behavioral residue and the support seeker’s seeking strategy as an identity claim on providers’ language use in supportive messages conveyed
in public and private channels online. Data showed that providers’ use of words that differentiate supportive messages of varying quality
(i.e., first-person singular pronouns, second-person pronouns, social process words, cognitive process words, and anxiety words) was influenced
by the quality and quantity of others’ comments, the support-seeking strategy, and the publicness of the communication channel in an interactive
way. Findings extend the literature by providing a more comprehensive account of online supportive communication and illuminating the actual
language used to support others.

Yanmengqian Zhou 1,*, Andrew C. High2

https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmac038

13 December 2022

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