Having been a member of the Vegetarian and Vegan support group on dailystrength.org for over two months now, I've gotten a good sense for the ways in which members use the internet on a regular basis. Although I've mentioned it before, many users come here to express frustration about non-vegetarians and vegans who they interact with in their everyday life. Many feel isolated by their dietary habits and enter this community to have their ideas accepted.
As we've discussed all semester, the internet has the unique ability to connect individuals to others despite geographical and social limitations and allow us to locate and converse with those with similar interests. Nancy Baym's article on identity addresses the ways in which online communities can foster honesty. She states, "Testing out honest self-disclosure and expressing one's "real" self online can be empowering and liberating. Practicing such skills as assertiveness can help people to work through issues involving control and mastery, gain competence, and find a comfort which they can then transfer to their embodied encounters. This is especially so when they receive positive feedback for their online expressions of identity," (7).
Several members of the community, most recently user "onetoomany", have written that they are "tired of keeping their mouth shut" or "need help with unsupportive family and friends." In the discussions that follow, they express frustration with the nonvegetarians in their lives and ask for advice from other members on how to deal with them. Feeling unable to voice their opinions in embodied encounters, they come to the community for the "positive feedback", as described by Baym. Words of encouragement from other members, praising their peers for "doing the right thing", and suggestions for what to say and do offline are all ways in which the online support group benefits members who are unable to assert their opinions offline in the real or embodied world.
No comments:
Post a Comment