localization, infrastructure, cost effect, channeling, censorship, regulation, editorial, user-interaction and value adding mechanisms) help VBAC group administrators control interactions and information on the group, thereby creating 16 information benefits for the gated, vulnerable women before, during and after pregnancy. Implementations of nine network gatekeeping mechanisms (i.e. The VBAC group administrators' (a) vision of transforming the existing doctor-centric birth culture to a more mother-centric birth culture in the rural United States, (b) expertise and experience in healthcare and (c) valuing scientific, evidence-based information lead to recurring, authoritative but evolving manifestations of combinations of nine network gatekeeping mechanisms. This qualitative study adopts “network gatekeeping” as a theoretical lens to implement a combination of deductive and inductive qualitative approaches for analyzing in-depth interviews with members and administrators of a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) Group on Facebook with a membership of over 500 pregnant women in rural Appalachia in the United States. The purpose of this study is to investigate why and how gatekeepers on social networking sites (SNS) create what types of information benefits for gated, vulnerable, pregnant women in the rural United States. Prescriptions to social networking companies and guidelines for administrators of online communities are discussed at the end. Findings also show that the management of members and their interactions is a prerequisite to controlling information in online communities. Thirty‐eight information practices of the administrators indicate their nine gatekeeping roles, seven of these roles help administrators alleviate misinformation, hate speech, and information overload. Thematic analysis of in‐depth phone interviews with members and administrators of a “Vaginal Birth After Cesarean” (VBAC) group with over 500 new mothers on Facebook shows that the administrators make 19 choices for recurring, authoritative but evolving 19 information‐related activities when (a) forming the VBAC group over Facebook for local new mothers, (b) actively recruiting women who had a VBAC or have related competencies, (c) removing doctors and solicitors from the group, (d) setting up and revising guidelines for interactions in the group, (e) maintaining the focus of the group, (f) initiating distinct threads of conversations on the group, (g) tagging experts during conversations in the group, and (h) correcting misinformation. Rarely does any empirical investigation show how administrators routinely control information in online communities and alleviate misinformation, hate speech, and information overload supported by profit‐driven algorithms.

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