Negotiating conflict and negativity in an online Community for recovering heart pateints

When an online community has been set up to support members living
with heart disease, it has a responsibility to provide a safe environment in terms of
emotional security and accurate health information. Unfortunately, in online
communities as in communities generally, relationships developed among
members can sometimes go awry. Situations can arise where private exchanges
between members exacerbate public discord and conflict erupts: occasionally with
both sides having legitimate reason to feel aggrieved. At this point, a usually selfregulating community can polarise and request the moderator's intervention. What
happens when the moderator is perceived to be doing nothing about the situation
and members of the community take matters into their own hands? This paper
discusses the implications and challenges of conflict in a therapeutic community.
It acknowledges that sometimes the situation can be too complex for simple
resolution and that in such circumstances, one or both of the conflicted parties
may have to withdraw from the site for a period of time.