How online support communities navigate and counteract gambling advertisements
Tavares, T. (2025, August 7-10). “Sad to say I have a problem”: How online support communities navigate and counteract gambling advertisements [Conference Presentation]. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Francisco, CA, United States.
* Top Student Paper Award, Advertising Division
Gambling advertisements are hard to miss, targeting users with promises of winning big and turning their lives around. However, what happens when these ads reach individuals grappling with gambling addiction? This study sheds light on the harm caused by gambling ads through the voices of those most affected. By analyzing discussions on Reddit—a platform known for its anonymity and peer-driven support—this research delves into the lived experiences of individuals in the subreddits r/ProblemGambling and r/GamblingAddiction and explores how they perceive, respond to, and cope with exposure to gambling ads. Guided by Optimal Matching Theory, the study examines how social support within these communities meets users' emotional and informational needs, helping them resist advertising triggers and maintain their commitment to recovery.