KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES OF LIVING WITH HIV / AIDS IN A BRAZILIAN BLOG
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV, Experience with Illness, Social Media.
Blogs produced by people living with chronic diseases can provide rich descriptions of practices, customs, and social perceptions of the health-disease process. In this way, this virtual space is configured as a new scenario of health promotion, sharing of information and experiences of living with the disease. Therefore, the objective of the study was to analyze the knowledge and experiences shared virtually in a Brazilian blog about HIV / AIDS. It is a socio-anthropological study of a qualitative nature, carried out through virtual ethnography and documentary analysis. 253 posts made by the blog author from March 2011 to July 2016, distributed in the "News", "Diaries" and "Articles" sessions, were used as data sources. The data were analyzed using the thematic coding technique and included the texts produced by the blogger and the comments of the visitors of the page. In the "Articles" and "News" sessions, knowledge and information on the biological and clinical aspects of the virus, treatment and prevention of HIV / AIDS are disseminated. In the "Diaries" session are shared daily experiences of bloggers and followers with HIV. In this sense, comments on the blogger's posts produce a space for sharing knowledge and experiences with the virus. In addition, the discussions in this virtual space seem to bring comfort and ease the difficulties in living with HIV / AIDS in the totality of daily life. The social medicalization present in the speeches of the blogger and the visitors of the page, emphasized, strongly directed to the adherence to the treatment and the safe sex. However, the blog plays an important role for its followers as it enables the sharing of HIV experiences, encourages adherence to treatment and provides scientific information. Anonymity is also emphasized as facilitator of virtual interactions and the formation of support networks. However, the medicalization of discourses may be inclusive for some, but exclusive to others.