Conversational analysis of an online kratom addiction forum community

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Rene Schwartz

Dec. 1, 2017

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Abstract

The topic of this research paper is Discourse analysis of a Kratom addiction forum on DrugsForum.com. The researcher went into this project with two theories: 1. Participants higher up in the hierarchy will be more helpful, experienced and knowledgeable; and 2. If a newbie breaks a rule, the community will correct the newbie. The method was picking threads with the most dynamic and linguistic factors. The researcher settled on three threads that show examples of online status, self-preservation and identity, disclosure of information, community rules breach, participation and group dynamics. In the end, the researcher found that the first theory was not true but the second was. This paper will fill a gap in the known research and also suggests an area of future study. The suggested future study would involve trying to find out if jumping back and forth between SWIM and “I” statements has anything to do with education.

Keywords: Kratom addiction, SWIM, AFOAF, Drugs-Forum.com,

Background information

Kratom (Mitragynine Speciosa) is a Southeast Asian cash crop tree related to the coffee tree. Different regions throughout Asia have used Kratom in traditional medicine since the beginning of the 19th Century. Kratom uses include managing chronic pain, treatment for opioid withdrawal, increasing energy, appetite, and sexual desires. Long term usage of Kratom has been known to cause complex effects within the locomotor of the brain and “disruption of cortical oscillatory activity” (Nurul, et al, p. 1). With easy access to the plant and its compounds, the use has become widespread throughout the world.

This plant is not currently considered a “controlled substance” or classified as illegal but, with so many perceived negative attributes and failed experiments, the DEA and ICE are doing what they can to make Kratom illegal.

According to Grenemeier (2013), the physical addiction to Kratom is a choice. … “[Kratom] is quite weak though, it doesn't cause a huge number of problems in most people … but like anything else, all exposures to anything no matter what we're talking about is dose dependent. And if you take enough, anything can make you sick and certainly that is true of Kratom.”

Within the views and context of users and researchers, Kratom is an “either-or.” You can either use Kratom recreationally as a mood stabilizer or you can abuse it to get high. In the news today, the DEA is on a mission to classify Kratom as an illegal substance due to the theory that more people abuse it than not (Ingraham, 2016).

According to Enos, “A former employee of drug testing company Dominion Diagnostics who now consults for that company and others told ADAW that she had expected Kratom to take communities by storm after she read initial research on Mitragynine in the late 2000s, but this largely has not happened” (N & S Reviews, 2012). Kratom is not a well-known a substance in America like marijuana and alcohol. (Kiley, 2012, page 17-18).

Introduction

This article focuses on computer-mediated social interactions within threads about Kratom on Drugs-Forum.com. The aim of this study was to establish the theory that forum participants who have a higher member status are more helpful in their responses to threads posted by newbies than other newbies’ responses. The researcher also aimed to discover what happens when members of Drugs-Forum.com broke the site’s established rules. The researcher’s theory about rule breaking was that users who broke a forum rule would be called out and corrected by others in the online community.

Literature review

Many people have turned to the internet to hold conversations about drug use by becoming part of drug forums or following message board sites. According to Emil Chiauzzi, et al (2013), these forums and websites are used by members in multiple ways, such as learning about drugs, sharing methods of how to use drugs, finding help for friends or family members, or to conduct academic research (Chiauzzi, et al, 2013, p.661). Online communities, such as drug forums, have different diction, power structures and linguistic features than one would have in a face-to-face conversation.

Online Status

In drug forums, such as Drugs-Forum.com, advice and information are imperative to the success of the website, but why do people share such information freely? According to Joseph Lampel and Ajay Bhalla (2007), advice and information is given voluntarily as a factor to gain status in virtual communities (Lampel & Bhalla, 2007, p. 435). The researcher found each member’s status can change in relation to the number of posts and responses that they make. Lampel and Bhalla (2007) state that online participation by a site’s members increases the likelihood that the online community will survive and grow, so they instill different status opportunities. Thus, status change guidelines do encourage online members to be more active on the site. This is shown in the fact that the subjects of this study are each of different statuses because of their length of time as a member and their participation on the site’s forum. This is shown in Drugs-Forum.com in their listed hierarchy of statuses which explains what users must do in order to gain a higher status.

Self-Presentation and Identity

In the chosen forum, it was noted that members of Drugs-Forum.com do not use their real names, rather, they use personally chosen usernames. Erikcon (1974) and Goffman (1959) have acclaimed that users in online communities create multiple identities through digital manipulation of text, images, and icons (Lampel & Bhalla, 2007, p.441). One form of manipulation of text that the researcher observed in this study is that users use the acronym, SWIM, when discussing their involvement with the drug, Kratom. SWIM stands for ‘someone who isn’t me.’

Additionally, they used AFOAF, which means ‘a friend of a friend.’ Using such acronyms allows forum participants to be honest regarding their experiences with Kratom. Within the safety of an online community, as compared to a face-to-face conversation, individuals protect their identities by using different diction in their language (Lampel & Bhalla, 2007, p. 442).

Another example, as shown in one of the threads, is that one user uses the word ‘hamster’ when discussing himself. This identity of being a hamster rather than his actual self gives him the anonymity of discussing his drug use. Later in the thread it is noticed that he ceases the use of the word hamster and begins using ‘I’ when speaking of experiences. Due to the content of this particular forum, all users keep their true identities anonymous.

Disclosing Information

In online communities, such as Drugs-Forum.com, there are three main reasons why participants disclose the fact that they engage in drug use: to give advice to others, to get information from others, or to provide context for information made previously in a thread (Costello, Martin, & Brinegar, 2017). Some users on the site willingly disclose their struggles with Kratom, while other users keep their personal struggles quiet, yet they give advice to those wanting help with their addictions. However, there are some threads that include two users sharing their experience with previous addictions to Kratom. For example, in one of the threads the researcher studied, spicybrainsgirl posts about her experience with Kratom withdrawals and DiabolicScheme responds with his Kratom withdrawal history. “Disclosure of substance use among users builds a sense of camarderie in the [forum] (Costello, Martin, & Brinegar, 2017).”

When users admit their conflicts with Kratom addiction to each other, it allows for each user to feel they are in a safe place to openly discuss their initial substance abuse. Relatedly, users discuss how using Kratom is a form of coping with other addictions such as opioid addictions. For example, user transientjetlag, asks for advice to find out if his withdrawal symptoms are from his previous use of opioids or from taking too much Kratom to cope with the other addiction. Ianzombie responds with his opinion as to what is going on with the fellow user as well as suggestions. “This indicates that in some cases, disclosure prompts disclosure (Costello, Martin, & Brinegar, 2007).”

Experiences users have had from taking Kratom were most often found in the many Kratom related threads on Drugs-Forum.com. Similar to the Soussan and Kjellgren (2014) study, self-reports of first-hand experienced effects were very common and constituted the most prevalent theme (Soussan & Kjellgren, 2014).

Community Rules

Each online community has their own set of established rules for users and participants to follow. According to Wyke Stommel, such rules serve as a resource for the moderators to set the limits of the community (2008, p. 2). These rules determine what kind conversations are held on the forum as well as how the topics are discussed. When these rules are not followed, it is pointed out to the user that violated them. In one of the threads, Ianzombie replies to transientjetlag’s post and lets him know that his other thread was reported to be deleted because “it is against the rules to post the same thing.” Moderators check if participants take the established rules into account when they are being active in a thread and they do intervene as necessary, just as Ianzombie did (Stommel, 2008, p. 9).

Participation

Simone Gabbriellini (2017) suggests different possibilities of information distribution on forum sites. The one that most applies to Drugs-Forum.com “shows a user sending a single post  to the thread and multiple people replying or commenting on that post” (Gabbriellini, 2017, p. 806). This particular model of forum posting is used to reproduce lengthy discussions and responses in relation to the topic at hand. It represents a feature of online networks in which replies are motivated by other users’ interest in the subject matter (Gabbriellini, 2017, p. 819).

Group Dynamics

Even though the forum members are from different geographical areas, there is strong group cohesion in this community. This is observed in the migration of members on various forums that reside in different countries. Additionally, there is a keen sense of shared experience. Many users had the same experience when taking or ceasing the use of Kratom. “The [online] communities also function as a social support and advice mechanism for forum members interested in learning about using Kratom, whether recreationally or to help with the withdrawal from another drug (Davey, et. al., 2012).”

Method

Study Material

For this study, we chose to examine discussions about the addiction to the drug Kratom (Mitragyna Speciosa) on Drugs-Forum.com. This particular online discussion forum is one of the most read drug information and addiction websites in the world, according to their homepage. This site includes researchers, drug users, harm-reduction specialists, concerned parents, officials, non-governmental agencies, lawyers, doctors, journalists and addiction specialists.

Participants

The first phase of this study was to strategically analyze three different threads of conversations among the forum users. Participants were unknowingly chosen for this particular study by the researcher choosing particular threads with the most dynamic and linguistic factors. Among the users in the selected posts, there are the following power statuses: newbie, platinum member, silver member, and advisor. It should be noted that the users are absolutely anonymous other than their usernames and select details like how long they’ve been members and where they say they live. To understand the dynamics among the users, it is essential to notice their status.

Transientjetlag and spicybrainsgirl are newbies. A newbie is the status everyone gets after registering with the site and are limited as to what they are capable of doing in means of posting and responding.

Roaddoggy and Denzil are silver members. According to Drugs-Forum.com, silver is the standard level of membership after a newbie exceeds 10 reputation points. Reputation points are achieved through one or two information posts (Drugs-Forum, n.d.).

Ianzombie is a platinum member and an advisor. The platinum membership is the “highest level of non-staff membership and have access to the ‘The Inner Circle’ (Drugs-Forum, n.d.).” According to one of the site’s administrators, the Inner Circle is an additional forum where platinum members, advisors, and staff discuss forum events and protocol. These platinum members are chosen by invitation only and gain moderator functions in the chats as well as the ability to moderate their own blog and move their own threads. An advisor is one step up on the hierarchy above a platinum member. There was no direct information in regards to being in this particular power status.

Data

The study of the forum threads involved conducting an in-depth analysis of exchanges among the five different users chosen as participants. A microanalysis was completed of the selected exchanges in order to identify the users’ discursive identities. Doing so allowed the researcher to read through the computer-mediated communication and understand how each user’s identity is constructed and managed in how they talk in the forums. As well as studying the difference of how users of various power statuses in the forum speak among, and in response to, others.

Results

The extracts are taken from Drugs-Forum.com, an international forum with multiple topics in relation to drug use or, more specifically, in this research study, an addiction to Kratom.

The website offers chat sessions and information sites, as well as a forum for people who want to chat with other members from all over the world. Drugs-Forum.com members are only identifiable through their usernames. In this study, the researcher conducted a microanalysis of the thread for Kratom addiction. This forum topic, as of November 20, 2017, contains 29 pages for a total 564 entries, in addition to multiple smaller threads within those entries.

The researcher’s first goal was to demonstrate how forum members act out theirdiscursive identities on Drugs-Form.com. Frequently, the threads on the forum start out with anewbie explaining his experience or asking a question, which is followed up by a moreexperienced member giving their advice to the newbie. The more experienced members may askfor more information or, in rare cases, point out a rules violation to the newbie.

Extract 1

The most important aspects of the exchange between members on this thread, from an identity and community focus, are that transientjetlag is a newbie and ianzombie is a platinum member/advisor. Transientjetlag opens his post by saying he is duplicating his post from another forum thread he created. He refers to himself as AFOAF, meaning a friend of a friend, which is a flimsy way of having deniability as drug addicts/users often have the side effect of being paranoid (narconon.org, n.d.).

In response to this, ianzombie asks a few follow-up questions about transientjetlag’s experience. Also, ianzombie speaks on behalf of the administrators and staff of Drugs-Forum.com by pointing out it’s “against the rules to cross post the same thing.” Also, ianzombie, a 42-year-old member since 2007, reminds the newbie, transientjetlag, that this is a volunteer run site and he might have to wait a few days to get responses and to have a little more patience.

This is a clear example of an experienced member guiding the newbie on to the right path within the site. Perhaps his posts will be more welcomed in the future if transientjetlag were to follow the rules and now that ianzombie has told him about this rule, perhaps he can pass on that wisdom to another newbie in the future. Thus, making a self-policing website which, according to the rules, both gives the users a safe place to talk about drugs without fear of retribution and protects the staff.

Transientjetlag’s next post on this thread reveals he or, in his words, his “friend of a friend,” was using the kratom to come off of suboxone which he was using to quit heroin. According to Jayadeva, et al, kratom delays opiate withdrawal by mitigating symptoms if taken for short periods of time but, after you stop taking the kratom, the withdrawal symptoms continue (2017). From this experience, ianzombie suggests that perhaps the 30 grams of kratom he took over five days simply prolonged the inevitable withdrawal from the suboxone.

On transientjetlag’s last post, he seems to have accepted that ianzombie was right and he calls him “dood” (a variation of dude) and says “u da man.” In this way, it seems that he got what he was looking for all along. The conclusion being that he was worried about going through kratom withdrawal but actually, he received advice that the contrary happened and the kratom just staved off his withdrawal from suboxone for a few days.

Extract 2

In this exchange, spicybrainsgirl, on April 21, 2011, posts for the second time on the kratom addiction forum referring to herself as “my cat.” She then proceeds to talk about her withdrawal symptoms coming off of kratom. Unlike many other people, she is consistent about calling herself “my cat,” as opposed to many others who jump back and forth between AFOAF, SWIM or their pet of choice and “I” statements. This could be in reference to her state of mind at the time of writing this entry and possibly has something to do with her education. (A future area of study where not much is known could be certain people’s use of these terms instead of taking their own responsibility and, perhaps, relating that to their education level.) Also interesting is the first time anyone on this forum used “my cat,” was Oct. 1, 2010, and the use is continued sporadically to this day on many different forums.

In response to spicybrainsgirl, diabolicscheme says, on May 21, 2011, “my hamster” thinks from his experience that the withdrawal symptoms from kratom are mostly physical. Unlike spicybrainsgirl, however, he makes a mistake and at one point in his post he talks about walking and using “my” legs. The mistake might indicate, as with spicybrainsgirl, that his state of mind is not clear or he is a little less experienced with writing or educationally. Something that contradicts that idea is diabolicscheme writes in full sentences with correct capitalization and uses paragraphs while spicybrainsgirl does not. However, he seems to be playfully adding his own experience by referring to himself as his hamster which hadn’t been used by anyone on this forum before.

On the next post in the thread, on Aug. 15, 2011, almost 3 months later, diabolicscheme responds again to update his previous post and admits his kratom use has gotten out of control. Interestingly, on this post he gets straight to the point. Instead of continuing the playful use of “my hamster,” he posts a 401-word entry and consistently uses “I” statements. The researchers estimate this was a subconscious change in his writing style and that now, he was talking a bit more seriously about how dire his situation was becoming, so he cut out the silliness and cuts to the chase. Diabolicscheme ends his post with advice to other people on the forum who might decide to come off kratom as well. In this way, he is speaking in the name of the forum which both works to reach out to newbies and enables him to act as an experienced member. Thus supporting his identity as a titanium member.

Extract 3

In this thread, a silver member, Roaddoggy, is asking for advice about whether or not kratom would help with valium withdrawal. Roaddoggy relays some background knowledge about other substance withdrawal kratom helps with, such as alcohol. He doesn’t mention if he has taken kratom before but is wondering if it would be easier to “kick” a kratom addiction than to taper off of valium.

Ianzombie, a platinum member/advisor, responds to Roaddoggy by asking him how kratom would help with valium withdrawals; essentially answering Roaddoggy’s question with a question. He then accuses Roaddoggy of not being able to face not taking some sort of drug. He then tries to convince Roaddoggy that just tapering off the valium is the best case scenario because then he would be drug free, which, according to Roaddoggy, is the ultimate goal.

Roaddoggy responds to ianzombie by pleading his case for needing to get off valium whatever it takes. He talks about how much pain he is in and that he’s heard success stories of kratom helping people get off other substances and how he was hoping it would work for him. He then reveals he has been addicted to kratom in the past and that kicking it was hard but that the valium taper is harder. He pleads once more for anyone who may have experience with what he’s going through to come forward and give him advice. Lastly, he says “thanks for your advice” which could be a nod to ianzombie, but is likely a thank-you for those experienced people who may come forward in response.

The last post on this thread is from silver member Denzil who disagrees with advisor ianzombie (“respectfully”). He offers his own unique experience in withdrawal from his own prescribed medications. In this case, the message is much more hopeful and helpful coming from a hierarchical peer (both silver status), than from someone who has the status of an advisor. Theoretically, an advisor is someone you go to for advice, but in this case, the advice was not as helpful as someone who had a closer experience with Roaddoggy.

Discussion

The researchers’ main theories were the higher up in hierarchy, the more experienced and helpful a participant would be; and if a newbie broke a rule on the forum, they would be called out by someone higher in the hierarchy and corrected. The study yielded good threads to analyze and the researchers came to some conclusions. As for the first theory, the researchers were incorrect. It was found that member status was no indication of a particular forum participant being more contributive than those with a lower status, as shown in Extract 3. And the second theory was found to be true: when a newbie broke the rule of not cross-posting threads, the advisor/platinum member informed him he marked the other one for deletion.

This study only scratches the surface of the complexity of the communication within online forums. Online communities use specific, learned diction to keep their identities anonymous. Future studies should look at the acronyms used among drug forum participants in addition to the implications when refraining from writing in first-person. The researchers theorize that further research into online community language among participants can determine differences in the education levels of forum members as a result of authors of threads being inconsistent in their identity by switching from using SWIM or AFOAF to calling themselves “I.”

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