Networked Shame: Diffusion of Menstrual Stigma in Digital Health Communication

Networked Shame: Diffusion of Menstrual Stigma in Digital Health Communication | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Networked Shame: Diffusion of Menstrual Stigma in Digital Health Communication Yixi Yang, Yiping Li, Yu HU, Yunyan Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8119469/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Menstrual stigma remains a persistent barrier to global health communication, shaping how women and menstruators navigate visibility, emotion, and participation online. This study theorizes Networked Shame as a communicative and structural process that explains how stigma circulates and transforms across digital health networks. Integrating Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory with Social Network Analysis (SNA), we examine 23,850 social media posts discussing menstruation-related topics. Network and semantic analyses reveal how privacy boundary coordination interacts with network structure to sustain or disrupt the diffusion of shame. The findings demonstrate that highly connected “relay nodes” accelerate the circulation of stigma-laden discourse, while cohesive clusters foster micro-communities of empathy and advocacy. By embedding CPM within a networked analytical framework, this study extends privacy theory to the meso‑ and macro‑levels of online interaction and provides evidence-based implications for destigmatization strategies and digital health interventions. The work advances interdisciplinary dialogue between communication theory, digital sociology, and public health. Health sciences/Health care Humanities/Health humanities Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Humanities/Medical humanities Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology ​​ Menstrual Stigma Networked Shame Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory Social Network Analysis (SNA) Destigmatization Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 21 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 24 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 11 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 24 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 23 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 25 Dec, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 01 Dec, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8119469","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":596450558,"identity":"d6fef8f7-2f9d-43ce-8842-d089a42d6029","order_by":0,"name":"Yixi Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hongkong Polytechnic University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yixi","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":596450559,"identity":"8aa59711-be24-47fd-ac1d-3c7ea2e7fa8c","order_by":1,"name":"Yiping Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Macau University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yiping","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":596450560,"identity":"bdc45c1f-4db2-4d22-ada7-27ba1c45520f","order_by":2,"name":"Yu HU","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABEUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYgkQBC7A1Iwg+A2ICHkBaeAxARsMIEPFpgIIFBIoFILczt7Y8/PKhgyDO4+fjh48IdNvL2DLwHHyS2HWYwh9mL7rCeM2YSCWcYig1upxkbzzyTZtjDwJdsANJi2duAXcuMHDaGxDaGxA23c9ikedsOJ/Aw8JhJgLQYnMfuMMb5zx9/SPwH1HLzDEjLfyK0zGAwkEhsAGq5wQPScgBJy1kcDuvJAfrlmEQi0BvGxrxtyYY9h4F+STiXzmNwBrv3DduPP/74o8Ymse/44YePedvs5Nnbew8++FBmLWdwJgG7FojlEkhCzMD4YGRjwBmR8ljEQIr/4NIwCkbBKBgFIxAAAMZwXUWgcn9yAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Wuchang Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yu","middleName":"","lastName":"HU","suffix":""},{"id":596450561,"identity":"d54ebc74-018b-4d4f-814a-8ed2fc6b7e36","order_by":3,"name":"Yunyan Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shunde Polytechnic University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yunyan","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-15 05:23:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8119469/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8119469/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103405711,"identity":"ae0bd44d-288b-42fe-a59c-5300141b0396","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-25 10:06:19","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":491028,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AnonymousNetworkedShameDiffusionofMenstrualStigmainDigitalHealthCommunication.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8119469/v1_covered_d2a01267-b22c-4e14-a764-1319c0983518.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Networked Shame: Diffusion of Menstrual Stigma in Digital Health Communication","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"​​ Menstrual Stigma, Networked Shame, Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Destigmatization","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8119469/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8119469/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Menstrual stigma remains a persistent barrier to global health communication, shaping how women and menstruators navigate visibility, emotion, and participation online. 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