Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
18
AzyBarak,OrnaBoneh,andMichalDolev-Cohen
Whilegainingpopularity,ontheonehand,andreceivingresearchsupport,on
theother,severalfactorshavehinderedtheactualsuccessofsupportgroupsin
termsofprovidingatangibleresourcetopeopleinneedofhelp.First,manysuch
groupswereinitiated,administered,andmanagedbyorganizationsandclinicians
forafee.Obviously,thismatteroffinancescreatedacertaindiscriminationand
favoritismrelatedtotheeconomicabilityofpeopleindistress.Second,traditional
(face-to-face)supportgroupscompelledtimesynchronizationsothatallgroup
memberscouldmeettogethertoenablecommunicationamongthem.Thisconstraint
createdinconvenienceforsomegroupmembers,eventothepointoffrequent
absencesoravoidingattendancealtogether.Third,andrelatedtothepreviouspoint,
groupmeetingsmadeitnecessaryforparticipantstoconveneatacertaingeo-
graphicallocation.Thisrequirementaddedanotherdifficulty,especiallyforpeople
wholiveatsomedistancefromthemeetingplace,thosewithphysicaldisabilities,
andthosewhodisplayageneralannoyancerelatedtotransportationingeneral.
TheemergenceoftheInternet,especiallywithitsexceptionalcommunication
capabilities,inadditiontootheruniquecharacteristics,hassuppliedanewmeans
forprovidinganddeliveringsupport–onlinesupportgroups.Whilenothing
essentiallyhaschangedinregardtothepurposesandprocessesoftheseonline
groups,theysimplysolvedparticipants’difficultiesrelatedtotimecoordination
andphysicalattendanceatleastintheearlystagesofthegroup.Ontheother
hand,thefreeandrapidlyexpandinguseoftheInternethasbroughtaboutleader-
less(i.e.,withoutprofessionalmoderators)groups,constructedbypeoplewho
sharesimilarproblemsanddesiretosharetheirexperiencesandmutuallysup-
portoneanother(Barak&Boniel-Nissim,2010).
Onlinecommunicationallowsthreedistinctwaysforpeopletocommunicate
ingroups:(1)Onewayisthroughachatroom,wherecommunicationissynchro-
nousand,hence,necessitatesthatallparticipantsareconnectedonlineatthe
sametime.Whilethistypeofcommunicationenablesmoreimmediate,sponta-
neous,andperhapsgenuinecommunication(Barak&Wander-Schwartz,2000),
efficientcommunicationisusuallylimitedtoasmallnumberofparticipants
otherwisesimultaneouscommunicationbecomesmessyanddisableseffective
interpersonalinteractions.(2)Asecondwayisthroughanemaillist(e.g.,through
LISTSERV),wherebyemailssentbyeachgroupmemberaredistributedamong
alltheothermembers.Thisprocedureallowsmoreconvenient,asynchronous
communication,aswellasconvenienceinthatmessagesreachmembers’com-
putersdirectlyratherthantheirhavingtoconnecttoawebsite(thus,itisa“push”
andnota“pull”procedure).Suchasynchronouscommunicationenablesmore
timeforreadingandwriting,aswellasforpersonalreflection,thandoeschat-
basedsynchronouscommunication.Inaddition,messagescaneasilyberereadat
