In my last blog I focused on my participation in an online support group for my illness of narcolepsy. To summarize it quickly, I am a member at www.dailystength.org; it is a medical site dedicated to organizing and uniting people of all ages who share the same medical issues. I participate by blogging and posting in forums that are specifically targeted for me and fellow narcoleptics.
A support group is exactly what is implies; it is a foundation for support when you need it the most. Blogging and posting provide a ridiculous amount of advantages to people in need of support. Opposed to face to face support groups, the biggest benefit of online communities is that they save time. We live in a fast pace society in which people need convenience, therefore we have the beautiful creation of the internet.
First and foremost, you get to shop around! Look through a few sites, see what kind of information and support members are providing, and then decide if you would like to become a part of that particular community. Once you have decided, dip your toes in at your own leisure; you are never forced to jump right in. There are no constraints or scheduled meetings to attend; there is only you, your computer, and the comfort of your own home… and you are the one who decides what blogs will be coming in and out of your door.
I want to make it clear that I do not believe that all blogs are beneficial, but I truly put my faith into www.dailystrength.org because it is a medical website and the information that is posted everyday has a greater chance of being accurate, and is coming from someone who is taking the issue seriously. In my own experience, when first becoming a member of the site, I did not plan on posting as much of my own insight as I did plan on just reading others blogs to gain perspective. However, after spending a lot of time reading I became eager to respond to others who were just like me. Being a young teen, the only people that had any advice for my condition were my doctors, who were well over fifty years old (also whom did not actually have narcolepsy, they had only studied it). When I came across people that were my age in these forums it was like I had struck gold. I began forming stronger social ties.
Blogging and posting became more intimate as the frequency of responses became greater, and more in depth as well as personal with a handful of people that I had met through the support group. Deborah Gray states in her article about online support groups that, “Geographical distance is only an abstract concept.”I believe that the reason that I turned to the internet for support was because of the rarity of my illness. Although people as far back as Harriet Tubman, and even many celebrities today have narcolepsy, it is still a fairly new field for medical exploration and is undiagnosed in 150,000 people out of every 200,000 that if affects. Point in case? There are not too many narcoleptics walking around the streets that I can have a cup of coffee with and chat about drugs and daily life. What I can do, is pour myself a bowl of cereal and sit at my desk and find a whole bunch of people to talk with.
Two years ago, through this site, I found one of my best friends. Also a narcoleptic, we found ourselves constantly blogging back and forth since we were both the same age and both about to be in college (same fears, same questions). She is now a sophomore student at SUNY Cortland and she grew up in a town about a half hour away from my own. Never in a million years did I believe that I would be the type of person to find any random friendships via the internet, yet I have been proven wrong. We started in the forum atmosphere and after awhile we exchanged screen names (a more intimate form of online communication); we have even met each other in person. This is an example of how social ties can be created online.
Another way that online support groups affect social ties is by saving pre-existing ones. “If a teacher is known to attend a meeting for people with depression, might it affect how he or she is perceived at work by staff and parents?” (Gray 2007). This brings about a very interesting point. Not only do we live in a fast pace society, but we also live in an extremely judgmental one. Parents can be very overprotective of what and who their children are exposed to. Face it, these days it is difficult to keep much of anything a secret. If a PTA parent discovers that her child’s teacher goes to support groups for depression or any other mental illness it is more likely that they will be more skeptical than understanding. The teacher can get help anonymously by using an avatar and a pseudonym.
All in all, online communities that offer medical support are revolutionary and extremely helpful in both creating and saving social ties through blogging, posting, and exchanging information and expertise in forums.
Sources:
Gray, Deborah. 2007. Support in Your Pajamas: The Benefits of Online Support Groups. Retrieved on October 7, 2008 from http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/support-groups-2580-143_3.html
2 comments:
Online support groups are a great example of an online community. That's awesome that you found your best friend through one because I'm sure it would be hard to find someone with as much in common with you somewhere on the street. I also think the anonymity of support groups online is a good idea because it seems people would be more reluctant to talk about their illnesses in person.
i like how this blog tied into your last... online support groups are just as helpful (sometimes even more because of they ability to be anonymous)as off line support groups like AA. deff a form of an online community that i never really took into consideration.
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