assignment 8

Jadd Schmeltzer purple blog
Meghan Mitchell Yellow blog

For this assignment, Jadd and I decided to do three different topics, which had no relation to each other. We each got to pick our own topic then choose a neutral topic that we wanted to do. The topics we decided to do were gambling addiction, shopping addiction, and also Urgent Help. The last topic “Urgent Help,” was the first group that we decided to do because this girl’s mother was not allowing her to work because they would then receive less child support according to what her mother was saying. She listed what was going on in her life and the situation she was in and asked for help. The next topic that we did was gambling addiction. I thought of gambling addiction because this is a very serious topic that can ruin a person’s life. Seeking help for this topic is just a step in the process of becoming free of gambling problems. The last topic that we searched for was “shopping addiction.” I felt that this was an interesting topic as it is an issue for many women today. We encountered in this group that this women would spend $1,000 a MONTH on clothes. She was searching for some help on how other women had overcome similar issues. This was actually the most interesting post because it combined seriousness and humor together, but it also had a lot of good responses.

To evaluate the messages posted on the group’s page we used the conditioning scheme. The condition scheme consists of Information, Tangible assistance, Esteem Support, Network Support, Emotional, and Humor. Each group above uses different themes for evaluation.

Our Results:


% inter-rater reliability 0.925

Frequency % of messages
Information 19 0.95

Tangible assistance 6 0.3

Esteem support 8 0.4

Network support 6 0.3

Emotional support 13 0.65

Humor 7 0.35


Almost all our messages except one gave some sort of information whether it was advice, a referral, a situational approach, or teaching. The results we received coincided with what Braithwaite concluded about his results. Many people gave comforting information to the recipient to alleviate the pain and/or anguish they wished to rid themselves of. And in many cases, people gave referrals of places they could visit or call to receive some sort of help. Also, people would provide new and important information, e.g. legal processes, to help better the situation. Different ways of thinking and various solutions were offered so the person experiencing the dilemma was able to pick and use solutions given or think of ideas based off them.

Tangible assistance includes a loan, perform a direct or indirect task, have active participation, and express willingness. Tangible assistance wasn’t as popular and widely used as information was. One particular poster offered direct tangible assistance and expressed willingness to help the girl experiencing problems with her mother and father. The poster said if the girl ever needed a friend or anyone to talk to she would be there for her anytime. The frequency of our findings was a little higher than what Braithwaite received but they still were not as significant as the other categories of advice.

Network support provides people with companion figures who have the knowledge to help and/or have experienced a similar situation. It also includes access and presence. Esteem support is validating people’s positions and relieving them from blame allows for increased confidence levels. Doing this raises the receiver’s confidence level and gives them hope that their problem will be solved.

Emotional support is the second most used way of offering advice. It offers relationship support, affection, confidentiality, sympathy, understanding, and affection. Braithwaite concluded that emotional support was the most widely used from of giving advice. Offering support through the means of “love and friendship” and showing concern and understanding shows the person they are not alone and they people available to help them. Also, feeling like you are trustworthy and show empathy towards the person and their problem allows them to feel comfortable opening open and welcoming advice from and help from others.

Surprisingly we found quite a few postings exhibiting humor. We say surprising because one wouldn’t normally think of finding humor incorporated with advice concerning serious topics. After reading what Braithwaite has to say about humor and why it’s used more than one would think makes sense. Using humor deflects negativity and tension and the anonymity factor of the CMC setting, according to Braithwaite, allows people to feel more comfortable using and receiving humor online as it’s deemed less risky.

The most important methods of offering advice to others in need were through the use of information, esteem support, and emotional support. Our findings corroborate the Braithwaite findings except for the fact that network and tangible assistance were more frequently used in our findings when compared to the Braithwaite findings.

The SIDE theory can be used to explain why people feel comfortable asking for advice and wishing to disclose personal information online for everyone to see. People can offer help and can relate to certain situations because they share a common ground. According to SIDE, CMC will have more social influence when people are visually anonymous and can identify with a social category. This is exactly what we witnessed when looking through our postings. People identified based on common ground principles and thus felt comfortable giving and receiving advice. Humor, which was used quite frequently, is also affected by this concept. With all this, people are more likely to give and receive help because common ground and anonymity provides “direct support” without hesitation.


http://groups.google.com/group/uk.legal/browse_thread/thread/bc8bd256964353e9/8b050a9350ded77e?lnk=st&q=advice#8b050a9350ded77e
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.gambling.blackjack/browse_thread/thread/93ef75832dcd664f/06b32f8147c8e0a3?lnk=st&q=advice+on+gambling+addiction#06b32f8147c8e0a3
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.fashion/browse_thread/thread/c3846644f9c8503d/65e2c0013806f02d?lnk=st&q=shopping+addiction#65e2c0013806f02d
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.diet.low-carb/browse_thread/thread/5f5273e4e03e008/8ba33b0a2175802d?lnk=st&q=eating+disorder+help#8ba33b0a2175802d