Posted by Leonardo on October 10, 2000, at 6:23:55
In reply to Hypotheses about Online Text Communication, posted by Dr. Bob on October 5, 2000, at 10:09:11
I'm afraid I can't muster enough concentration to analyse the hypotheses, but here are my experiences with online support groups.... You check if they correlate!
1) If you haven't used the internet/newsgroups before there can be a very big barrier to getting started. I read various groups for about a year before actually getting around to posting (I don't have home PC, and was reluctant to post from work, also didn't really understand how private groups are. I now know that some are not very private, you can be traced through IP addresses etc..)
2) Getting positive feedback can give you a boost, but criticism or negative feedback is very damaging when you are depressed.
3) Just posting and getting things off your chest is a help, but getting no replies to your messages is very damaging emotionally (nakes you feel worthless that noone could be bothered to reply.
4) You can get a feeling of being part of a community, but I think this is largely illusory. After returning to a group after a few months I realised I had no meaningful connections left from the contacts I knew before, which made me feel very lonely, and also that the previous interactions were a waste of time.
5) You can definitely get addicted, and rely too much on what you expect to find from the group. Occasionally you can get a gem of support or information, but mostly not on the whole I have found.
Leonardo
poster:Leonardo
thread:844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20000813/msgs/914.html