ALANA JC

Just figuring out my future...

Month: May 2016

Assignment #2- Finding My Community

Facebook is many things to different people. Whether you use it to share information about your life on a daily basis, or simply sit back and scroll through everyone else’s problems. It can be used to follow interests such as AFL, a favourite author or even keep tabs on your favourite restaurants and cafes. You can check-in and review the places you go, because literally almost everyone and everything has a Facebook link to their name. However, I became involved in a particular community just a few months ago. Facebook groups were introduced in 2010 and revolve around communication, sharing and interaction with people you have commonalities with. The Dingley Village Community Noticeboard (DVCN), is a Facebook group designed for residents of Dingley Village. Some outsiders can be included if they have connection to the village i.e attend school, or own a local business.

Like most online communities, the DVNC have rules and regulations  and are run by a group of stay at home mothers, who are very involved within the community. The group is ‘closed,’ meaning others can see it but must request to join, it has nearly 4,000 members. Based on my experience to date within the community I’ve found it very difficult to contribute information without the risk of being criticised or humiliated. I personally haven’t experienced this, however I have seen it happen to many other people. Unfortunately I was unable to screenshot any examples of this behaviour for my blog as admins are quite quick to delete them. They also threaten to remove those involved from the group altogether.

I’ve learnt a lot about writing to an audience within my community. Oatway’s reading highlighted the important factors about reaching your audience. For example, when I first joined the group, I sat back and watched the page to see how others posted and responded to certain people. And when I finally made my first post I made sure it was relevant to those within the community and sure enough I sparked genuine responses from my neighbours. (Ignore the first sarcastic comment, that was my sister).

In terms of NOT reaching your audience, i’ve also witnessed other uses post ridiculous questions, often seeking attention or trying to be funny. Unsuccessful in their attempt, the post is removed by admin. I haven’t made a large amount of posts to the page, however I still involve myself in other people’s feeds. For example, a lady once posted a very negative comment regarding my place of work. I stood up for myself and my colleges and thus a spark of replies were created, once again, the post was unfortunately removed. Most of those involved within my community use it correctly, with the exception to those few who abuse the page. So far I have found the page very rewarding when it comes to passing on messages that will affect parts or all of the village. On the other hand, I had to turn off notifications for the group, as there are way too many posts that clog my newsfeed. Although, the DVCN allows me to share messages with my neighbours, I still question myself with every post I make in fear it will be ridiculed and abused.

Bibliography:

  • Oatway, Jay, Apr 26, 2012, Mastering Story, Community and Influence : How to Use Social Media to Become a Socialeader Wiley, Hoboken. 97-109. ISBN: 9781119943457.

The pro’s and con’s..

Unfortunately not everyone within your community will cooperate. It can be seriously hard to post anything online without being criticised or someone commenting something sarcastic. My post was genuine and sparked real responses. Whereas, poor John asked a question regarding if Playhouse was kid friendly, and for those who don’t know, Playhouse is a very ratty nightclub.  Hence the sarcastic and rude comments some people gave him.

 

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Dingley Village Community Facebook Page

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My Community

Interestingly enough my online community ‘network’ is my real life living community as well. I live in a very proud village in the south eastern suburbs. Dingley Village with the postcode 3172, have some extremely patriotic residents. Not only does a person’s address declare them a part of this community, but their involvement in the closed Facebook group  does more so. With nearly 4,000 members, the noticeboard was designed “to be safe and helpful, a place where you can advertise Business & Service Directories (recommendations/referrals), list Events (such as local fundraisers), make specific requests (such as seeking donations etc.) This was what I was expecting when I joined the group just a few months ago, however I was genuinely mislead….

 

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Dingley Village Community Noticeboard Rules

General Rules :-
1) Bullying, harrassment, slander, threats and general abuse to any member or admin will not be tolerated

2) Racist, bigoted, inflammatory, pornographic, discriminatory, or any other offensive content/posts/comments will not be tolerated

3) There is to be NO public naming or shaming of any community members or any businesses. All issues are to be handled in private.

4) Any concerns members may have are to be directed to admin only, not other members to then relay back to the admin team.

5) Members will not denegrate other members or admin.
Our main concern is to keep it a positive and safe environment for all members and therefore we have zero tolerance for anyone that decides to engage in the above behaviour. If a member chooses to do so it may result in an immediate ban from the page.

We ask all members to be mindful of other’s feelings. You may post something in jest but since it’s so hard to portray emotion in social media, it may well upset or offend someone. In this instance, if such a member asks you to delete the offending post/comment/picture, instead of taking offence, getting nasty or sarcastic, or going on the attack in any way, please consider removing it or bringing any issue up with admin.

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