First of all...How are we already halfway through this course?!
Anyhow, this week I focused on online communities and coincidentally it aligned with the community observation assignment. I really enjoyed being able to join a bunch of communities (e.g., Dog Training on Reddit, Dog Training Group on Facebook, a wine group for MeetUp, and a Ed tech group on Tumblr) to get a feel how they work. I quickly learned that the way online communities work are unique!
I was surprised from my community observation paper that I was learning more as a lurker than an active participant. Now this isn't to say that that is always the case, but it allowed me to learn that communities have their own norms and management styles.
Overall, my experiences a
lurker and a participant in these communities taught me how each role can be
beneficial when learning from an online community. Lurking is a great way for
those new to a group to focus solely on the content, observe norms, and decide
whenever or not actively participating would be worth their time or even
necessary to get what they need from a group. Being an active
participant allows people to connect and form relationships with others who
share an interest in a particular topic.
How was your experience as a lurker and participant?
Interesting. I found being a lurker difficult at times because I wanted to engage. However, I can see the benefit of lurking when trying to decide about joining a group, like being in the peripheral trajectory in a community of practice.
ReplyDeleteHi Kelli!
ReplyDeleteI, too, found I learned more in the community in which I was "lurking" than in the community I was actively participating in, though I attribute it to the differences in the communities themselves. I felt as if I consumed more content when lurking than when participating.