Blog

My blog is going to be about how the internet helps people from a range of backgrounds and beliefs find others like them in order to form a sense of identity and community. I'm interested in exploring every community out there: from sites targeted towards lesbian and bi women, to feminist groups, to sites such as waitingtillmarriage.org and christianforums. I want to know why people form online communities, how they decide who "belongs" in the group and who does not, how they create rules and regulations for their communities, what they talk about most amongst themselves, and why these communities are so important to the individuals who participate in them. I imagine that, despite the differences in ideology, the reasons are much more similar than we might think.

I hope you'll follow me on my journey!

-IDtN

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DISCUSSION

#1 POSTED BY Collette Sosnowy, 02/09 2:59 PM

Excellent...any specific communities in mind?

#2 POSTED BY guest guest, 02/09 3:48 PM

A few that I'm interested in:

autostraddle.com (a website for queer women)

xojane.com (a women's-interest website)

christianforums.com (a website for Christians of any denomination, although there is a significant atheist/agnostic population as well)

waitingtillmarriage.org (a website for those who are waiting until marriage to engage in sexual activity, regardless of religion)

I'm even thinking of digging into more controversial websites, such as MRA groups.

#3 POSTED BY Kyle Braden Nicholas, 02/09 3:50 PM

This sounds really awesome! All the pointers that you mentioned in your summary would be interesting things to look into when it comes to online communities and how they function as mini-societies within the internet. Definitely interested to see what you find.

#4 POSTED BY Collette Sosnowy, 02/09 6:14 PM

Great book called Cyber Racism by Jessie Daniels. Shows white supremacist movement from print forms of communication to moving online, the shape of the "community" formed, and common narratives. She also uses research methodology that might be a useful guide.

#5 POSTED BY Madeline Hanna Robles, 02/09 8:26 PM

This is very cool. There are certainly many interesting online groups out there!

#6 POSTED BY Rachel Michelle Glicksberg, 02/09 9:53 PM

Sounds like an awesome topic! I'm excited to read your blog and I am going to think about some online communities to suggest for you...

#7 POSTED BY Sahib Simran Kaur Khalsa, 02/10 3:08 PM

recently I have been thinking quite a bit about how the people that you choose to follow of friend on the internet really are a self selected group and everyones internet experience is going to be affected by those decisions. perhaps that is something you could consider looking into.

#8 POSTED BY Dominique Brielle Fluker, 02/10 8:47 PM

This sounds wonderful! Excited to hear what's next for your project!

#9 POSTED BY Hannah Heffernan Johnson, 02/11 9:57 AM

What an interesting idea for a blog. Something that would be really interesting to explore as part of this would be to look at the online versions of these groups vs the 'real' versions of these groups. How do they differ and how are they similar? Do the same types of conflicts between groups occur online as do in the 'real world'? Do these conflicts arise more or less often on line? Hope this helps! Can't wait to see more!

MySLC

identitythenecessity.com

First Blog Post -- Identity and Social Media!

DISCUSSION