Unit 5: Virtual Communities

Visit one of the following online support groups:

Breastfeeding:

https://www.reddit.com/r/breastfeeding/

Coming out:

https://forum.emptyclosets.com/index.php

Food allergy:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodAllergies/

Relationship:  

https://www.supportgroups.com/relationship

After reading a few posts and the support given in the online support group of your choice, answer some or all of the following questions:

What might attract people to your chosen online support group (as compared to, for example, a formal or informal face-to-face support group)? What does the online support group provide that a face-to-face group cannot provide?

What type of support (emotional, esteem, network, informational, instrumental) are you able to observe in the online support group? Please give an example of a quotation from a post that meets the description of at least one type of support. Please note that you will likely encounter support in the response posts in these forums, rather than the original posts.

According to McEwan (2015), the two types of support most common in online support groups are informational support and emotional support. Did your observations match this? If so, why do you think informational support and emotional support are so common in your chosen support group? If not, what other types of support are you able to observe and why do you think this type of support is observable in your chosen support group?

Online communities are made up of many lurkers. Are there any indicators of lurking in your chosen online group? Why might a person lurk in your chosen group?

Discuss how this online support group might be considered a “third place.”