[Social network analysis and eating disorders: a study concerning blogs]. / Social network analysis e disturbi del comportamento alimentare: una ricerca condotta sui blog.

ABSTRACT

This study is aimed at analyzing the structure of relations among blogs referring to Eating Disorders (ED). Through the use Of Social Network Analysis (SNA) we investigated both the groups and their structure in order to study the social processes within the network. A formal analysis of the ED blogs' characteristics has been carried out. This analysis provided us with information about network Centrality and Cohesion parameters. Results allow us to highlight the most relevant blogs in the network. Even if the extremely variable nature of the blogs does not allow to have a precise picture of the blogosphere referring to ED, this first attempt to apply SNA in this field allowed us to suggest interesting remarks about EBD both from the research and from the social perspective.