When our class watched the PBS documentary, Growing Up Online, I became really interested in a certain topic for a research paper. I want to research how internet support groups can positively and negatively affect social behavior and personal attitudes. For this topic I would explore both extremes as well at try to find a neutral community. On the negative influence extreme, I wanted to research how Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia websites can encourage girls to dive deeper into their eating disorders, or bring about one. This topic has a very personal connection to me, and I know several girls who can give me personal insight on this topic. This topic in particular is interesting because it has two sides. I know several people, who Pro-Ana and Pro-Mia sites have encouraged them to become more severe, but I also know girls who were turned off by this extreme and it helped them to see how their eating disorder was unhealthy. I would also like to explore how the Pro-Suicide websites impact society as well.
On the other side of the spectrum, I would like to research the effects that support groups for medical disorders has on people. I know there are websites, such as Carepages, that provide a way to find someone who has encountered similar medical obstacles and been able to conquer them. This provides a person with a sense of encouragement to be able to talk to someone who has defeated the battle they are currently struggling with. Along with this there are websites where parents of children with learning disabilities can communicate and share tips. It would be interesting to see if this had a positive effect on the approach the parents took with helping their child or dealing emotionally themselves with the struggle.
Is there an online community that has a neutral response? Like sharing recipes online, giving relationship advice, or swapping secrets on Postsecret.com? Can those have both positive and negative effects? I think online communities are so vast and fascinating, and I really hope that I can find enough research to delve into this topic. If not, I guess I need to brainstorm some more ideas, because right now this is all I have. My guess is that since my topic is so broad, I will need to narrow it down a little. I would first get rid of trying to explore neutrality, and then I would get rid of the positive side. I find the harmful effects of online communities to be more interesting since I have seen firsthand their side effects. Hopefully though, I’ll be able to touch on a lot.
Research Paper Ideas February 24, 2008
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This sounds like a really interesting topic; I’m a little jealous that you got to it first. You really out to check out vampirefreaks.com, which is a gothic site that has a number of forums dedicated to either supporting (in a positive sense) or encouraging anorexia. It might be helpful; it shows that not all people puke up dinner just to fit into that new cheerleading uniform.