Online Communities is an easy way for people to keep in contact. Online work spaces provide a virtual space for people who work together to meet, share files and work collaboratively. They include features such as virtual meetings using online conferencing and VoIP including virtual whiteboards, email, chat, shared folders and files, and online applications.
VLE’s provide information to help students learn, for example access to additional notes and homework in school or remotely from home as long as they have an internet connection. They also allow teachers to work collaboratively to create high quality learning material. They include features such as: timetable/news for staff and students, marking tools for teachers, email and chat communication, progress tracking features, personalization for individuals, interactive polls and questionnaires, facility for students to contribute to blogs and personalize their own space.
Social Networking is an online community where members can come together and communicate. Users may create a profile, add friends and talk to other members in a variety of ways. Examples may include LinkedIn, which is aimed at business people with advice given by industry experts. Another example is Bebo, which is aimed at younger teens with areas for gaming and music videos. Another example is Instagram, which is aimed at people who want to share images to an audience. Last example is Facebook, which is aimed at all ages and genders, enables people to share things and like things and write posts.
Teleworking is working at home, but staying in touch with others with the help of technology. There are many advantages to teleworking. It saves money and reduces pollution, since there is no need to travel for work. The work is flexible and people can work when and where they like. There is increased productivity, because there is less time lost traveling.
Gruman, J.A.,Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Thank you so much for your post and for providing the pros to creating/having an online community. As in today’s society online communities have been very integral on how we interact with each other, such as schooling, work, and just socialization. I think one of the biggest benefits from having online communities is having a sense of connectedness.
In particular social media has become a place where we are able to express ourselves and view others that share similar interest as us. This goes back to our lesson when it talks about establishing a sense of community as this allows individuals to feel like they belong and fit in. (Gruman et al., 2017)
Reference:
Lafreniere, K., Page, S., & Senn, C. (2017). Applying social psychology to the community. In J. GrumanF. Schneider, & L. Coutts (Eds.), Applied social psychology (pp. 321-350). SAGE Publications, Inc, https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781071800591.n12
I appreciate that you chose to touch on multiple types of online communication and how people can work, learn, and interact with one another.
I wanted to touch specifically on working from home, because that’s something our professor does, as well as my partner, and many other people around the world especially since Coronavirus hit in 2020. Since October 2020, there has been a shift in employees choosing to do their work from home. In January of 2022, individuals who work from home choose to work from home even if their workplace is still open, and the percentage that chooses to work from home was 61% and 64% said it was easier to maintain work-life balance. (Parker et al., 2022)
In terms of personal experience, or semi-personal experience, my partner has told me many times that he loves working from home and never wants to go back to working in person. He calls it “a cushy job” even though there are some days that I’ve heard him curse his coworkers behind the protection of the computer for not doing their end of the work. Other than online school, I’ve never worked from home and I don’t know how I would do with it. I think I would get off task easily and not have solid boundaries on when work starts and stops. With online learning, I’ve gotten used to it over time but I would definitely say it’s hard to make what feel like real world, true connections with other individuals, and it’s amazing to think that this December I’ll be taking a flight or long drive from NC to University Park Pennsylvania to graduate with many of my classmates.
Parker, K., Horowitz, J. M., & Minkin, R. (2022, March 23). The covid-19 pandemic continues to reshape work in America. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/02/16/covid-19-pandemic-continues-to-reshape-work-in-america/
Hello I enjoyed reading your post and I agree that online communities can be beneficial. Communities can be described as groups of people who associate with each other (PSU WC, L11 p. 1). Communities evolved from hunter-gather groups in which our ancestors where apart of (PSU WC, L11 p. 1). Communities come in different sizes such as small, large, local, national, or international (PSU WC, L11 p. 1). Today, communities can be either face-to-face or virtual (PSU WC, L11 p. 1).
Furthermore, Community psychology is a discipline that emerged from both mental health and community itself (Gruman et al., 2017). There is not a single universal definitions of community psychology, however, Dalton, Elias, and Wandersman (2007) provided the most accepted definition (Gruman et al., 2017). “Community psychology concerns the relationships of individuals with communities and society. By integrating research with action, it seeks to understand and enhance quality of life for individuals, communities and societies” (Dalton et al., 2007, p. 15 as cited in Gruman et al., CH 12 p. 4). Community psychology revolves around core values such as: individual and family wellness, sense of community, respect for human diversity, social justice, citizen participation, collaboration and community struggles, and empirical grounding (Dalton et al., 2007, p. 15 as cited in Gruman et al., CH 12 p. 4).
Many internet communities display these core values. A blog written by Anna Borges and Casey Gueren (2020) highlights some of the most beneficial online communities. Support Groups Central; The Dinner Party; Psychology Today; Facebook; ADAA Online Support Group; Zencare; Body Politic COVID-19 Support Group; Alcoholics Anonymous; Wisdo; and Meetup all display one or more of the core values related to psychology (Borges & Gueren, 2020).
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE.
Borges, A., & Gueren, C. (2020). 10 online support groups for anyone struggling right now. SELF. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.self.com/story/online-support-groups
Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2022). Lesson 11: Community. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2177148/modules/items/33983560
I definitely agree that the tools and opportunities afford us by online communities do enhance our lives. However, I would like to discuss one particular online community you highlighted – teleworking, sometimes referred to as telecommuting.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic where many were forced to work from home, some companies have realized that having remote workers is a viable alternative to expensive offices and costly commuting expenses. While a windfall for some employees (reduced or eliminated commuting costs, reduced costs for “formal” clothing and more flexibility in some cases) it also has several potentially negative outcomes.
Getting up, showering, getting dressed and going to an office is a healthy routine for a lot of people. Having to be in by 8 or 9am provides the structure that many people need. When telecommuting, people are much more likely to sleep later, perhaps skip a morning shower routine and potentially stay in comfortable clothing throughout the workday. While on the surface this sounds great, it does promote a more lackadaisical attitude towards work.
In order to successfully work from home, one needs to be extremely disciplined. According to US News, “The absence of an obvious division between the personal and professional realms means some remote workers get distracted by housework. Setting boundaries and sticking to them is important when you’re working from home” (2021). Especially during the early days of the pandemic, the concept of “working hours” became an extremely grey area. Since people were generally staying at home, and had everything they needed to work at home, the temptation to work outside of 9-5 was large. This has continued as the pandemic wanes. Unfortunately, this has created a culture where some supervisors have come to expect it which will be detrimental to employee mental health in the long run. The ability to separate work and home environments is key to successful telecommuting.
Finally, telecommuting can create productivity issues for businesses. My husband owns his own company and all of his employees have been remote since 2020. According to him, keeping track of employees has become extremely difficult in this environment. Employees are much more likely to take a “long lunch” and run errands than they would be in an office environment. This has caused a need for him to require tracking/logging software to be installed on all employee computers. The software tells a supervisor how long someone is logged on and if they are actively working. This would not be necessary in a supervised office environment.
References
Madell, R. (2021, June 14). Pros and Cons of Working From Home. Retrieved from US News and World Report: https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/pros-and-cons-of-working-from-home