1. EXCHANGING SOCIAL SUPPORT ONLINE: DECODING MOTIVATING FACTORS FOR PROMOTING SOCIAL SUPPORT IN A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY OF IBS PATIENTS Open Access Author: Yang, Fan Title: EXCHANGING SOCIAL SUPPORT ONLINE: DECODING MOTIVATING FACTORS FOR PROMOTING SOCIAL SUPPORT IN A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY OF IBS PATIENTS Graduate Program: Mass Communications Keywords: Online forumsocial supportIBSsocial network analysis File: Download Fan_Yang_Dissertation_Final.pdf Committee Members: Bu Zhong, Dissertation Advisor/Co-AdvisorBu Zhong, Committee Chair/Co-ChairS. Shyam Sundar, Committee MemberFuyuan Shen, Committee MemberXiaoyue Niu, Outside Member