Life interrupted instead of disrupted: triggers and resilient communication processes revealed in POZ.com online narratives by men with HIV who have sex with men

ABSTRACT

The present study uses Buzzanell’s (2018) communication theory of resilience (CTR) to explore the triggers that HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) report experiencing and their communicative responses to those triggers. Analysis of posts from 39 members of an HIV-positive online forum reveals that members experienced CTR's four resilience triggers, with some triggers co-occurring. Members shared using four communication processes related to resilience, overlapping in two forms. As members’ use and creation of communication networks was a common denominator of the two co-occurring communication processes, creating opportunities and safe spaces for MSM to network, communicate, and foster social support with others (such as via the forum examined in this research) are imperative, especially for those living in more intolerant social environments.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• HIV
• men who have sex with men (MSM)
• communication theory of resilience
• stigma

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the POZ.com forum members whose voices are featured in this study. Members’ online disclosures provided critical insights around the challenges that HIV-positive MSM experience and the resilience they garner to move past obstacles. Thank you.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).