Tutorial Six: The internet and online communties

I am using Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA) again as my topic: 

Provide the web addresses and a hyper link for the three online communities you have chosen:
http://www.mdjunction.com/rheumatoid-arthritis
http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/rheumatoid-arthritis/forums
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rheumatoid+arthritis&aq=f

Provide a brief description of each community:
The MDJunction Rheumatoid arthritis support group is a community of patients, family members and friends dedicated to dealing with Rheumatoid Arthritis, together.
MyRACentral is a way of making connection, asking a question, sharing a concern, giving advice or just having a chat. Their message boards connect people with a community of people who understand where they are coming from and what they are going through.
YouTube provides a way for people who have arthritis, know someone with arthritis, want to know more about arthritis, anyone really- to post videos, comments and discuss.

What services are provided on each site?
MDJuction  Rheumatiod arthritis support group:
How interactive is this site? this site is very interact it clearly shows that people are frequently making posts and supporting each other. There are 640 members.
How and what can people contribute? They can contribute- articles, videos, diaries and posts about rheumatoid arthritis.
MyRAcentral:
How interactive is this site? The site is quite interact with the latest post being 2 days ago on the 21/03/2011 which shows people are access the site and making posts.
How and what can people contribute? People are about to make their own forums or make post of comments towards others forums and posts they have made.
YouTube:
How interactive is this site? This site is extremely interactive with 3,280 results appearing for Rheumatoid arthritis alone. Most of the videos have comments about them.

How and what can people contribute? People can contribute by joining YouTube, they can either upload a
video of their own about rheumatoid arthritis experience or knowledge etc or they can just comment on others videos they have made. Some people may like to just watch the video for support or information.

Why do people choose to contribute to each community?
People choose to contribute to these communities as it is a way in which they can express how they are feeling about RA, information they want others to know or that people need to know, discuss different opinion or ideas that people hold, share knowledge about RA.

What is it that they are seeking?
They are seeking a way of support from others that have RA or maybe people that just want to add advice on knowledge that they have about RA.

Is information shared one way or reciprocal?
Both MyRACentral and The MDJunction Rheumatoid arthritis support group are reciprocal but YouTube is not guaranteed that people will reciprocate.

Examples of  the type of topics being discussed:
MDJunction examples:
Jackie: what about a laugh room? We all know the bad days, the painful days, the dark days so what about somewhere to go just to read something really stupid and funny. I have a lot of pain today in my neck, shoulders ,wrists and feet and i could cry but i want to laugh instead,, so here goes for all you coffee drinkers out there, I INVITE YOU IN TO LAUGH TIL IT HURTS!!!!!

Her reply from one of the many responses:

From progrmrgurl: I really love this laugh room idea!! It's so much fun! Thanks!

MyRACentral examples:

Posted 01-18-2010 02:28 AM I was diagnosed with RA in December 09 and I'm scared to death. It's robbing me of everything important in my life. I just want my life back. Any ideas of how to deal with the hurt, anger, and depression would be welcome. Daze You can make the difference! His reply from one of the many responses: Posted 01-27-2010 06:04 AM Welcome, and here's a start. Sorry you're here!!! But glad you're seeking help. Diagnosis comes at all ages. Two of us here, me and Mac, are in our 60's. Many of the people who post here are vigorous somewhat younger people in their 30's trying to raise kids, and work at the same time, and my heart just goes out to them especially. Kageyd. Youtube examples: Here is a video post by a woman about her experience of Rheumatoid arthritis: This is one of the responses out of the five that she received: that really helped me with my research for school...thanks.. snuffdevlin Ethical issues that may arise in the communities: People can say whatever they want on the site and they will not able to be traced. There is a lack of identity to the users of the site, they will let anyone in. There is no accountability for the information used on the sites. There is no guarantee that people will get a reply on the posts or even be warmly welcomed into the online community. Benefits these communities provide over traditional geographical community: All of these communities allow anyone from any geographical regions the benefits from this is that people from different communities have various opinions and ideas. This provides the online community with a wide range of knowledge and diversity.