Hi Everyone,

As part of my university assessment I am required to write a feature article that’s targeted at a specific type of magazine (I‘m targeting my article at magazines like Rolling Stone). I want to write an article about online communities and the friendships that are formed within them. As such, I need to interview people that visit online communities.

Below are some questions, mainly asking how you feel about online communities and the friendships that are formed in them. So if you’re willing to share a bit about your experiences as a member of an online community please answer the questions below. You can answer them here, or e-mail your answers to me at [email protected]

It would be great if you could include your e-mail address so as my university tutor can verify if need be that my sources are real.

Questions

Please feel free to expand into as much detail as you like in answering these questions.

1. Why do you participate in this online community?

2. What is it about the sense of community that you find here that makes you want to be a part of it?

3. How much time do you spend online as part of this community?

4. Do you consider any people you’ve met in here, as friends?

5. Outside of the main forum topic (Roxette), what sort of things do you share with other people in this community?

6. Do you tend to share more, or less, with people here than you share with your friends offline?

7. Is there a sense of support in this community?

8. Has being part of this community helped you to better understand or accept yourself in any way? How?

9. Do you feel that spending time in online communities makes you withdrawn from ‘real world’ communication? Why/Why Not?

10. Do you feel that friendships that are founded in online communities are any less valuable than friendships founded in the ‘real world’? Why/Why Not?

*edit* Ally77’s answers made me realise, it would also be helpful to my article if I could know peoples ages and where they’re from etc. So here are a couple more questions.

11. Age? (if you are willing to share it)

12. Gender?

13. Location?

14. Have you created an image in your head of what people you are friends with online are like offline?

15. Have you ever met people from the community in an offline environment? How was that experience? Were the people as you had expected etc?

If you have any stories about how online friendships have helped you in any way, or any other stories to do with life in online communities, please feel free to share them with me. I look forward to hearing from you...

Thanks for your time

Brooke