Peer appraisal, participatory surveillance, and experiential mentoring: explicating communicative practices of participatory learning in an online support group for people with binging experiences

Abstract

Much research has examined how participants in online support groups (OSGs) seek information or exchange social support while neglecting peer learning among users. Applying the perspective of community of practice (CoP), we conceptualize peer communications in OSGs as a participatory learning process of sharing and managing experiential knowledge. To explicate this learning process, we thematically analyzed 1,084 discussion threads in an anonymous Chinese OSG formed around binge eating. Our findings identified three informal strategies of participatory learning: (a) peer appraisal to validate shared suffering, (b) participatory surveillance to monitor peer progress, and (c) experiential mentoring to corroborate coping practices. This study elucidates the process by which OSGs generate, validate, and consolidate experiential knowledge through peer communication practices. It highlights the collaborative nature of knowledge construction within OSGs, in which members engage in bottom-up, trial-and-error approaches supported by their own experiential self-disclosures. Such a CoP allows participants to explore and test various coping strategies, fostering a participatory learning environment in which they can solicit or provide feedback based on their experiences.