Co-Design for Harm Reduction Systems with Online Communities of Bodybuilding Steroid Users

A significant number of communities of bodybuilding drugs and Anabolic Androgenic Steroid users exist online (the term steroid forum on google returns over 140,000 results). However, very little is known about them as most research has traditionally focused on addiction recovery online communities. This work aims to provide an insight into understanding the on-line communities of bodybuilding drug and AAS users from multiple perspectives through the lens of harm reduction. In order to do so, we embedded ourselves in various online communities for several months, conducted 32 interviews and conducted a co-design session with bodybuilding drugs and AAS users. The results indicate that these online communities are central to the drug use of many individuals, and that harm is a significant issue for the majority of these on-line communities. Based on this, we present and discuss an initial conceptual model to demonstrate how researchers can approach these communities, build rapport, and conduct collaboratory research and co-design with them.