Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how the constructions of and responses to deviance by the moderators in online support spaces can potentially frame to the forum-goer the discourses - both health and non-health related - they employ in these spaces.

Paper long abstract:

A typical image of the forum-goer that emerges from the literature of online support spaces is one that is free in their expression, articulating their own ideas and empowered in their approach to their health, due to the 'democratic imperative of the internet' (Light 2001 p.1179). However, forum-goers are coerced in the discourse they employ, becoming prompted, rewarded and criticised for their performance online. This paper addresses the production of rhetoric in online support spaces. Using a case study of pro-recovery eating disorder forums, I analyse how the activities of moderation as well as the selection process and expectations of moderators shape the forum-goers' discourses. Ultimately, this analysis unveils an aspect of the backstage discourse production of the narratives that appear on these forums, raising questions around the effect this production has on the forum-goer construction of their narrative on themselves, part of their subjectivity.