Abstract

Comic strips have always been a medium for more than humor. Many comic strips published on social media sites address mental health issues. Despite their popularity, the field of graphic medicine, which examines the intersection of health care and comics, has seen little to no examination of how these comics function on social media. Utilizing the popular comic The Awkward Yeti, this research examines how the rhetorical devices of comics make them an ideal medium for communicating about mental health issues and providing social support to social media users. This study conducts a content analysis of 15 Instagram posts from The Awkward Yeti. Employing a modified version of Cuatrona & Suhr's Social Support Behavior Code (SSBC), three dimensions of social support were measured: information support, emotional support, and network support. The results revealed emotional support and network support to be the most frequently utilized dimensions of social support found in comments on The Awkward Yeti's posts. Additionally, the results suggest that for comics to be effective as a means of social support and mental health education on social media, they must be grounded in authentic experiences and should provoke emotional responses from social media users.

Degree

College and Department

Fine Arts and Communications; Communications

Rights

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