I forgot what year it was, but I suddenly realized everybody was talking about online forums, and wanted to try some of them. I looked through a list of mailing lists, and chose two of them that might be helpful for my information needs at that time. One of them was about highly gifted kids. I didn’t find this group intriguing enough to spend my time on. There were many active members and vigorous discussions, but I seldom found any topic applicable to my case. The other one was about unschooling. I was mainly curious about the philosophy and principle of this movement. It was pretty interesting to see a variety of reasons why people chose this method, and listen to some of their success stories and philosophical insights.
In both groups I was strictly an outsider. I thought it was a wrong place to be in. But in hindsight, I think the anonymity of virtual space could be a very important factor to some people. The issue of gifted kids is not an easy topic to share with anybody. I learned a long time ago that I had better not talk about it even with my friends. Even though I mentioned that it wasn’t a place for me, in the virtual space, at least I didn’t need to worry about others’ suspicious eyes.
In a very conservative society like the one that I am from, there are many unperceivable taboos – not officially banned, but cannot be openly discussed. When I visited one web site, I found a very active forum for women who have conception problems. Thanks to the anonymity of virtual community, they could exchange valuable information, or try to be of any help to other members. I think this is one of the many ways the virtual community can actually enhance the quality of its users’ lives. People can find a comfort even from a simple fact that there are others out there who are afflicted with the same problem.
Yeonok,
You are so right. So often we forget about other societal restrictions. I find it generational too with my mother of 81 years of age. She tells me that she does not discuss certain things even with her sisters that she is so close to. If people can read and write through the Internet, it might be extremely helpful to their cause when they are not able to discuss it openly.
Jane