Jason Feldman: Red
We analyzed a Google group in a forum for loneliness. What began as a simple board, where lonely individuals would offer advice to other lonely individuals, quickly became a philosophical discussion of existentialism and clarification on misconceptions of ‘dark matter.’ Our results were not consistent with Braithwaite’s findings. We assert that the reason for this inconsistency is largely due to the fact that the messages we analyzed were responses to an abstract mental and social problem rather than responses regarding an actual physical disability.
We focused on two main threads within one group forum. The first thread centered on anonymous group members responding to another member’s specific problem. This problem involved losing a summons for jury duty and corresponding doctor excuse slip. The writer also self disclosed intimate details about the death of her partner, and her emotional response to this situation. This thread contained 5 of our messages. The second thread was entitled ‘Darwinism.’ Quite interestingly, the posts had absolutely nothing to do with the principles of Darwinism. The topic was considering one’s purpose and impact on the universe (with special attention paid to ‘dark matter’, ‘spermazoids’, and conceptions of god). This group included the rest of our 15 posts.
Neither of these threads, especially the second one (which was the subject of the majority of our analysis), required the type of emotional support necessary in a group such as the one Braithwaite studied. Whereas the messages in Braithwaite were chalk full of empathy, understanding and encouragement, the posts in the first thread were primarily concerned with offering advice or referral. This advice typically was very practical in nature, and involved explaining the various ways this person could resolve the issues that were troubling her. The second thread also contained information support, but more along the lines of situation appraisal and member teaching based on individual perspectives. We also had substantially more posts that contained esteem support. This can be explained by the fact that topics in the second thread were often centered on validating ones self-worth and purpose.
Due to the fact that we analyzed only a limited number of messages, we did not find messages that contained either tangible or network support. This is not necessarily inconsistent with Braithwaite because the percentages of these two message categories were relatively small, and thus his results can be explained by his larger sample size. We also found a substantial amount of humor. However, these results could be more reflective of our own interpretations of posts rather than any comic intent by the authors.
Our results are consistent with Wallace’s theory about the effect of numbers in an online environment. Wallace’s theory asserts that greater numbers of people are less likely to help or offer support in face to face settings, but with decreased social presence online, individuals feel more inclined to help. Wallace suggests that the reason for this is that in the absence of visual cues associated with a face-to-face environment, we do not base our reactions on the reactions of others. Furthermore, individuals may feel more responsible and obligated to help because increased social distance creates a more one-on-one feeling. Members of a group may not be as aware of other capable members – so they more readily offer help. We noticed that both threads contained advice or information that was repetitive, implying that many group members felt obligated to offer support, reply to posts, give advice, etc.
Messages 1-5
Messages 6-20
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