Interaction dynamics of social support expressions predict future support-seeking behaviors in online support groups

Maintaining the sustainability of online support groups (OSGs) presents a significant challenge. Integrating the literature on interaction dynamics and supportive communication, this study investigated how interaction dynamics in supportive communication foster long-term support-seeking behaviors that are crucial to sustain continuous support exchanges in OSGs. Using a large-scale dataset of 48,868 posts and 468,243 comments over ten years from an OSG, this study examined how reciprocity and compensation of emotional and informational support, signaled by emotional expressions and analytical expressions, predicted a poster's future support-seeking behaviors in the OSG. Results showed that a poster's future support-seeking behaviors were positively associated with receiving (a) reciprocity of analytical expressions and (b) compensation of negative emotional expressions with positive emotional expressions in their past posts. However, reciprocity of negative emotional expressions negatively predicted a poster's future support-seeking behaviors. This study emphasizes social support as an ongoing interactive process and its importance in motivating support-seeking behaviors and fostering a thriving OSG.