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AzyBarak,OrnaBoneh,andMichalDolev-Cohen
Underspecificandtime-limitedsituations,however,virtualsocialinteractions
canempowerandsignificantlycontributetothewell-beingofmanypeople.
HelpingOthersinNeed
Manypeoplehavealtruisticvaluesandneedsthatcanbesatisfiedbyhelping
othersindistress.Asupportgroupprovidesaspecial,pre-definedenvironment
wherepeopleattendbecausetheyexplicitlyneedhelp–itcouldbeconsidered
a“paradise”forthosewhoseektoexhibitpro-socialbehaviors.Inanalyzing
messagesinanonlinedisabilitysupportgroup,Finn(1999)surprisinglyfound
that“opportunitiestotakethe‘helperrole’wereplentifulandwidespread.In
fact,offersofspecificinformationorsupportiveresponsestoproblemsituations
werealmosttwiceasfrequentaswererequestsforhelp”(p.226;emphasisadded).
Indeed,beingabletohelpothersisconsideredameansofreinforcingasense
ofpersonalcompetence,amajorfactorinfosteringpersonalempowerment
(Dickerson,1998;Schwartz&Sendor,1999).Helpingotherswasevenfoundto
bemorelikehelpingoneselfthanwasbeinghelpedbyothers(Schwartz,Bell
Meisenhelder,Ma,&Reed,2003).
AssistanceinMakingDecisionsandTakingConsequentAction
Somepeoplemayneedtoopenlydeliberateanddiscussoptionsinorderto
makeapersonaldecision.Suchtalkmightraisesuchaperson’sawarenessand
helpinfocusingoncertainissuesaboutwhichonecannotbevividlyaware
throughinternalthinking.Moreover,aftermakingdecisions,somepeopleneed
encouragement,reinforcement,anda“push”byothersinordertoimplementand
advanceactualbehavioralsteps.Anonlinesupportgroupconstitutesanideal
placeforsuchpurposes,astherearecontinuouspartnerswithwhomtodiscuss
issues,peoplewhoarefamiliarwithandawareofcommontopicsofinterestsand
thusabletoproviderelevantcontributions,communicationsarewrittenand
savedsothatthetimeandplaceofdiscussionsareconvenient,andrelevantdeci-
sion-makingresourcesarefrequentlylinkedandavailable.
SharingPersonalExperiences
Sharingmeansmorethanjusttellingothersofone’spersonalexperiences.
Sharingbasicallymeanshavingtheattentionofandlisteningtoothers,ontheone
hand,andventilatingemotionsthroughcatharsis,ontheother.Peopleindistress,
especiallywhenexperiencingauniqueandchallengingsituation(e.g.,having
