I created a profile and chose to keep my own identity. When I was deciding I had a look around the site, the people seemed genuine and the ground rules fit with my values.
The online network allowed me more freedom that when I attended physical WW meetings. At meetings other members who were older and had more weight to loose dominated and I did not feel I could contribute. The privacy of my own computer meant that I was free to browse all of the content without these worries and found that community bloggers to be a similar age.
To finish, I feel that the virtual network empowered me by allowing me to feel that U have the same right to access the information to lose 5kg as someone with 75kg to lose. I am still only a flaneur in the online community; I have not yet contributed anything to the space only looked around. I agree with Barnes(1997) that I have been "left to flounder through the [site]...without a proper sequential orientation" (para 4). There is some direction given on the home page however, when you follow the links the other elements are free roam. Without a sequential orientation after I have explored the site and browsed the blogs and articles that interest me I did not feel that I have achieved much which is disempowering.
References
Barnes, G. (1997). Passage
of the Flâneur. Retreived from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html
Petray, T. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks,
narratives and the making of place, Lecture 3: Map: Seeing and representing the
world. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
I have actually used the site Weight watchers before. It took a while to get used to the site because it seems that there is a lot of information available and it takes time to sift through it to see if any of it is useful but thankfully they have that awesome menu bar. As Barnes (1997) states "Spatial cognition in such a non-space is built through exploration and not observation". The longer you explore the easier it gets. As for feeling dis-empowered I too felt this way and stopped using the site as I think it is popular upon the fact that it is a well known brand and not because it is particularly useful. I do believe there is a section where you are able to interact with others disembarking on the weight loss journey but even this is relatively quiet as not many people use it. The site defiantly leaves you feeling dis-empowered as you aren't put in a position where you feel as though you are making a difference for yourself or anyone else.
ReplyDeleteBarnes, G. (1997). Passage of the Flaneur. Retrieved from: http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html