Blanchard suggests that when participants experience a feeling of community, they are more likely to increase or maintain their participation in the virtual communities. This seems logical as I would expect the same to occur in real life communities. Within Blanchards article there are two lists of characteristics which make up a sense of community in real life communities and in virtual communities, whilst there are subtle differences, I would overall say that there is a strong similarity between the two.
For instance, McMillan and Chavis (1986) suggest that feelings of being supported by others in the community and also supporting them are important, whilst in virtual communities numerous researchers have suggests that exchange of support among members consists a sense of community, for example Bavm, 1995, 1997, Greer, 2000, Preece, 1999, Rheingold, 1993. To me this indicates that there are universal characteristics which create a sense of community, whether this be online or offline. This again reflects the idea that online communication is as worthwhile as offline communication, as feelings created by online communication are equally as “real” as those created offline, as mentioned in a blog last week.
In realtion to an online community I used to use before it shut down due to lack of funding, I would agree that a sense of support was one of the reasons why I felt a sense of community towards this forum. Whilst there were inevitably the few people who'd always attempt to generate controversy, in general and with the users who I mainly had discussions with, there was a strong sense of community in that you would often see the same people posting, and would get an idea of their personalities and who they were from the posts they made and the things they would say and do. As you would always expect to hear from the same people this meant that there was an element on consistency, which I think drew me back to the forum for about a year.
Friday, 13 February 2009
Benefits of CMC
Reading from Anita Blanchard this week has suggested that rather than CMC having negative affects as suggested by the case of Stewart I blooged about last week, rather, there are a plethora of negative effects of such communication. For example, she suggests that CMC groups help replace the relationships which people lose as a result of becoming more isolated from their neighbours. It is a common belief that due to moral panics about who you could be talking to, and “Do you know who your neighbours really are?” that these relationships have deteriorated. She therefore argues that communication online helps replace these feelings on interaction.
In addition, becoming more connected with people online and through virtual communities you have actively chosen to be a member of and contribute to, rather than having your choice of community dictated to you as a result of your geographical location, you reap the benefits of social relationships with like minded others. This, I would assume, would give you the advantage of feeling more of a sense of community in this context , rather than in a real life context where these decisions are made for you.
An interesting finding was that some researchers have shown that participation in virtual communities can increase participation in face-to-face communities, therefore the benefits are not strictly limited to online communication only and can be carried over to improve face-to-face social skills. However, I would argue that this is not the case 100% of the time as shown by the case of Stewart, and I would assume many more like it.
In addition, becoming more connected with people online and through virtual communities you have actively chosen to be a member of and contribute to, rather than having your choice of community dictated to you as a result of your geographical location, you reap the benefits of social relationships with like minded others. This, I would assume, would give you the advantage of feeling more of a sense of community in this context , rather than in a real life context where these decisions are made for you.
An interesting finding was that some researchers have shown that participation in virtual communities can increase participation in face-to-face communities, therefore the benefits are not strictly limited to online communication only and can be carried over to improve face-to-face social skills. However, I would argue that this is not the case 100% of the time as shown by the case of Stewart, and I would assume many more like it.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Hangbag.com
Handbag.com is a forum primarily for women. The web-site consist of fashion, beauty, entertainment, health, relationships and celebrity news with a discussion forums for each of these areas. It is mainly used by younger females, under 40, who I would assume typically have an interest in fashion and like to be up to date. Typical discussions involve people sharing their opinions about a particular trend for people asking for advice about a specific item or outfit.
In general I’d say the tone of the forum is very friendly, with honest advice being given and sensitive topics being dealt with in an appropriate manner, it seems like everyone is just trying to help one another in the best way they can. There are few disagreements and even if someone does disagree they will not express their opinion in a dismissive or deprecating way. For example, one user, BibbityBob in a thread asking for advice about whether a dress suits another user replied saying,
People tend to present themselves as ‘savvy shoppers’, often talking about the latest bargains they have found and recommending places to get fashion bargains, for example, robbysgirl posts saying that she’s brought,
In general I’d say the tone of the forum is very friendly, with honest advice being given and sensitive topics being dealt with in an appropriate manner, it seems like everyone is just trying to help one another in the best way they can. There are few disagreements and even if someone does disagree they will not express their opinion in a dismissive or deprecating way. For example, one user, BibbityBob in a thread asking for advice about whether a dress suits another user replied saying,
“I bought this about a week ago and returned it - it was just on the too short side for me (and that's unusual ) but I thought that the cut out at the back made it look cheap and the fit wasn't all that great. Just my opinion though! If you're happy with the length there's no reason why you shouldn't keep it.”Here although she doesn’t like the dress she still makes the post positive by saying that as long as she felt comfortable in it, it was nice.
People tend to present themselves as ‘savvy shoppers’, often talking about the latest bargains they have found and recommending places to get fashion bargains, for example, robbysgirl posts saying that she’s brought,
"A waistcoat from Karen Millen reduced from £99 to £9.95!! also a Karen Millen embroided cardigan from ebay for £18”I would say that the content of the site definitely influences the kind of communication which takes place as the majority of it seems to be recommendations, which is what the site is mainly prioritises itself with in terms of exchanging recommended brands of make up or styles of clothing etc.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Pseudonyms and identity experimentation.
On page 167 Lister argues that having a pseudonym for yourself online serves as something which we are able to hide behind whilst experimenting with different identities as because they are not linked with our real name and therefore the real us, we are more free to take on a different persona whilst this name is representing us. I would have to disagree with this point as the name I always pick for myself when doing anything online is KayleyA. By choosing my real name to represent me online I am therefore not masquerading as anything and not creating a different identity for myself to experiment with.
Whilst perhaps this means that I do not feel the need to experiment with different personas in order to improve myself, being perfectly content with how I am in real life at the moment, I believe it also represents a degree of honesty and having no barriers to hide behind. In comparison to someone who perhaps chooses an ambiguous name for themselves, for example, someone on a forum I post on is called, ElkY, their real name being Bertrand, to me this suggests that they need something to hide behind and suggests an air of dishonesty. By withholding their name I believe it subconsciously causes me to assume that their posts will lack validity.
Whilst perhaps this means that I do not feel the need to experiment with different personas in order to improve myself, being perfectly content with how I am in real life at the moment, I believe it also represents a degree of honesty and having no barriers to hide behind. In comparison to someone who perhaps chooses an ambiguous name for themselves, for example, someone on a forum I post on is called, ElkY, their real name being Bertrand, to me this suggests that they need something to hide behind and suggests an air of dishonesty. By withholding their name I believe it subconsciously causes me to assume that their posts will lack validity.
The story of Stewart
Within Sherry Turkle’s Who am we? She discussed the case study of Stewart, a socially awkward Physics graduate in America who has developed a strong social anxiety. He has had problems with his heart since his childhood and, as a result of living a live “on a small compass” (Who am we? Page 5), he has very few friends, his life revolving around work. However, the identity he created for himself on a MUD was the complete antithesis to this, a confident character named Achelles who had lots of friends and was successful with women.
Whilst this could again be seen as experimenting with different identities, I would argue that in the case of Stewart it was more of an escape. He admits that his online persona was too removed from his offline self for him to be able to apply any of it to his real life, and the improvements were too exaggerated for him to achieve in his awkward, shy offline life. This leads me to the conclusion that whilst experimenting with different selves can has positive effects, as you are able to “test” personalities to see if they work and then apply these to your offline life, this is not the case 100% of the time. In the case of Stewart it is hard to see any benefits that this online MUD had created for him as to me he seems to have spend an awful lot of time creating a rich identity online, which has offered him few benefits when he could’ve spent this time more productively trying to overcome his social anxiety in real life.
Whilst this could again be seen as experimenting with different identities, I would argue that in the case of Stewart it was more of an escape. He admits that his online persona was too removed from his offline self for him to be able to apply any of it to his real life, and the improvements were too exaggerated for him to achieve in his awkward, shy offline life. This leads me to the conclusion that whilst experimenting with different selves can has positive effects, as you are able to “test” personalities to see if they work and then apply these to your offline life, this is not the case 100% of the time. In the case of Stewart it is hard to see any benefits that this online MUD had created for him as to me he seems to have spend an awful lot of time creating a rich identity online, which has offered him few benefits when he could’ve spent this time more productively trying to overcome his social anxiety in real life.
Online and offline relationships
Within Lister page 170 a study by Andrea Barker is outlined. She asked couples who met online questions about their relationship finding that often their relationship was every bit as strong as “normal” and couples who had initially met in real life. She also reported similarities in the patterns of early relationship formation. For example, they cited perceiving someone as having a good sense of humour as one of the initial attractions to them as well as perceiving them to have lots in common with them. However, there were also specifically online traits which played a role in attraction, for example the style in which they wrote their responses and the time they took to reply.
Whilst this study indicates that there are few differences between online and offline relationships, I would argue that fundamentally there are subtle differences which can be significant in the end. Particularly in romantic relationships, there are intangible things which can make two people work or not, and these are impossible to gauge online, let alone through the time it takes them to respond to a message. I would agree that initially meeting on a forum about a common interest would result in you having something in common, the things which you really need to form a longer relationship, let alone a marriage as in Andrea’s study, are impossible to gauge via exclusively online communication. Ultimately I would say that online relationships should be handled with caution given the numerous stories of people meeting online and then being taken from their families, as with the case of the Cleethorpes schoolgirl who was taken to France by someone whom she met on the Internet. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/7843907.stm)
Whilst this study indicates that there are few differences between online and offline relationships, I would argue that fundamentally there are subtle differences which can be significant in the end. Particularly in romantic relationships, there are intangible things which can make two people work or not, and these are impossible to gauge online, let alone through the time it takes them to respond to a message. I would agree that initially meeting on a forum about a common interest would result in you having something in common, the things which you really need to form a longer relationship, let alone a marriage as in Andrea’s study, are impossible to gauge via exclusively online communication. Ultimately I would say that online relationships should be handled with caution given the numerous stories of people meeting online and then being taken from their families, as with the case of the Cleethorpes schoolgirl who was taken to France by someone whom she met on the Internet. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/7843907.stm)
The merging of online and offline
One interesting point I found through reading Lister this week is that our online and offline lives are becoming less separate from each other. On page 168 he suggests that cyberspace is not completely separate from our current social reality; rather it is part of it. There is an extremely complex interplay between our real lives and our online lives and the barrier between the two is very blurred. The upset caused by the story of Mr. Bungle, the therapist who masqueraded as a female online who turned out to be male offline, is evidence of this.
Sherry Turkle seems to reinforce this point (page 10, Who Am We?) as she warns that by dismissing events which happen online as unimportant as they aren’t real life, we are therefore not learning from them and the experience is worthless as it will not be applied to the real world. Therefore if not applied to the real world, experimenting with different online identities is a useless method of self-transformation.
I would have to agree, as although something may have only happened online, and not have any effect on my offline life, this does not mean that it does not cause the same amount of worry or stress as something offline would. Whilst it is tempting to say that it isn’t “real” and therefore shouldn’t matter however, experience has taught me that it is difficult to dismiss something merely because it is online and not in real life. The immediate example that springs to mind is the drama which I have seen created through someone changing their relationship status on Facebook.
Sherry Turkle seems to reinforce this point (page 10, Who Am We?) as she warns that by dismissing events which happen online as unimportant as they aren’t real life, we are therefore not learning from them and the experience is worthless as it will not be applied to the real world. Therefore if not applied to the real world, experimenting with different online identities is a useless method of self-transformation.
I would have to agree, as although something may have only happened online, and not have any effect on my offline life, this does not mean that it does not cause the same amount of worry or stress as something offline would. Whilst it is tempting to say that it isn’t “real” and therefore shouldn’t matter however, experience has taught me that it is difficult to dismiss something merely because it is online and not in real life. The immediate example that springs to mind is the drama which I have seen created through someone changing their relationship status on Facebook.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
