Randi Moskowitz
rmosk@umich.edu

Psych Central

These are the words that appeared on my computer screen one day, while I was on-line in my virtual community, Psych Central. Little Boy Blue, is just one of the many emotional troubled people that I have met during my involvement in this world on the Internet devoted to helping people with psychological disorders.

According to Howard Reingold, virtual communities such as Psych Central are "social aggregations that emerge from the [Internet] when enough people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace" (Rheingold, 5). Psych Central is a social network of individuals who possess a common interest of sharing emotional support. It is a community where emotionally disturbed individuals both trained and untrained listen and counsel one another through a real-time chat line. The mental problems of the members range from either distressed, dysfunctional, or persons with a clinically diagnosed disorder.

Psych Central is a specific chat room within the Web Chat Broadcasting System. WBS is composed a variety of virtual communities. WBS allows its members to communicate on-line by affording them the opportunity to enter a variety of chat rooms. WBS is organized by Chat Hubs, and each one contains rooms pertaining to a certain topic. The Chat Hubs that are available are "Community," "Entertainment," "Travel," "Business," "Technology," "Current Events," "Home & Living" and "Sports." In each Chat Hub there is a pull down list of categories. Furthermore, there is another list under those general categories for the specific rooms a member or a visitor wishes to enter. For example, I located my virtual community, Psych Central under the subcategory "Support Organizations" within the Chat Hub, "Community."

In order to participate in the activities associated in the Web Broadcasting System, one must become a member. The membership process within the WBS is open to the public. Membership is both free and confidential. Currently there are 620,000 members over WBS, and during peak hours there are over 3,500 people on-line. The membership process consists of rudimentary requirements. In order to become a member one must first choose a handle (a name for yourself) using only numbers and letters. Then a password must be chosen to authenticate your handle. Furthermore, in order for membership to be valid, a correct e-mail address is required. However, one has the choice whether or not they want to receive e-mail about WBS events. The membership page also includes an optional questionnaire about personal demographic data, such as income, gender and age. However, there are no restrictions placed on demographic status and criteria.

The structure of Psych Central draws people together into a cohesive community of interest, communal spirit and social bonding, which is bounded by the therapeutic exchange amongst members. The structure of the community is primarily loosely grouped and is open to the Internet in terms of relationships among the members. However, because Psych Central is a virtual community consisting of individuals in need of psychological help, there is pressure amongst the participants to keep the community focused and limited to people in need of support and those willing to provide that service.

This foundation creates a functional and successful community where people integrate and work together to achieve the common goal of helping others. As a result, a mutual respect is built between the participants. Furthermore, while the anonymity of the members is preserved, there is a complete understanding of confidentiality and trust within the community because of the degree of seriousness and sensitivity of the subject matter.

As a result of this primary goal in establishing a chat line with the purpose of building a coalition of activists to serve as a support group for one another, Psych Central is a community of sound structure. The community is based on a democratic government in that the users are sovereign. Psych Central is not a highly standard or structured body, because communication is uncensored and people have the freedom of expression. However, norms are established through a social aspect of peer pressure. Peer feedback and time spent on the chat line influences and determines popularity and respect amongst members.

From the beginning of my membership, the fundamental goal and norm of this virtual community was immediately conveyed to me through peer pressure. When I first entered the community, I was familiar with the basic codes of etiquette; one must respect the right of individualism and the protection of the community by adhering to the social norms and proper conduct of communication within cyberspace. However, I was not aware of the limitations on discussion matter that existed within the community. I assumed that Psych Central was similar to other chat lines that I have previously participated in. I immediately began introducing myself, and discussing basic social issues to get a feel for the place. After I sent a message about my weekend, I got a private message from Braingame stating that he appreciates my involvement; however, this is strictly a chat line for troubled people and for those who need immediate help.

After this experience, I realized that there is a form of leadership within the community that serves to govern, and preserve the fundamental rule of the community- this is strictly a chat line for troubled souls. Braingame along with another character, Zedd8 have leadership roles. They are the two most frequent participants on-line and dominate the scene whenever they are present. These two characters have had a history of psychological problems of their own; however they are both trained in psychotherapy. Braingame is a psychiatric social worker in a public school, and Zedd8 is a volunteer in a community day center.

Peer influences are also responsible for the formation of their leadership and hierarchy within this chat line. Members are always seeking their assistance and often rely on their advice over other participants. Overall, hierarchy is also determined by those who are veterans within the community versus those who are new members. As with real life experiences, confidence, respect and trust in someone develops over time. Thus, people are most attentive to and value the opinions of those who are active participants in the chat line.

In addition to the professional assistance of such members as Braingame and Zedd8, the chat line gives the users the opportunity to converse with the Psych Central Creator, John M. Grohol, PsyD. on Wednesday from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Due to the high demand of his services and the limited time of his assistance, I was unable to receive adequate personal attention from him in order to further investigate the facets of the community. He did tell me that his intent was to build a place on-line that would provide a quick, cheap, and effective resource for people in need of psychological support. Mr. Grohol also feels his involvement with the community sustains its success by giving the members an opportunity to converse with the founder and coordinator on psychology, support and mental health issues.

The organization and maintenance of the norms and goals of Psych Central creates a virtual personae on-line. The members collectively work together to open their ears and hearts to provide a place where people can find the security, support and compassion that they are looking for. A specific conversation between two members, Bluebaby and Laele exhibited these aspects of this chat line and the efforts demonstrated by people reaching out to one another. "Laele- yes, we too have a bond, to find that purpose, and there is one, its the light inside that is trying to get brighter and we will hunt it down, you hear,,,,come, take my hand,,,and we will look together,,,o.k. Love- Bluebaby."

In order to effectively assist each other with troubling emotions and problems, a communication pattern composed of patience and respect must be maintained. However, those people who are experiencing emotional trauma and are in need for immediate help are unable to possess control over their emotions. Therefore, their communication exchange is indicative and reflective of their feelings at the time. Their emotions are often released through verbatim which demonstrate their pleas for help and cries for attention. These people often lash out by cursing, sending alarming messages and displaying representative symbols of their moods. For example, a member named Peleus sent me a message that read "Pel is gone, Pel is dead. Pel is dead, ha, ha, ha...Nobody care-." Messages such as these require the participants to maintain that initial communication pattern of control, patience and respect. Participants within Psych Central immediately understand this norm because of the sensitivity and seriousness of the dialogue and the issues at hand. Thus, because ideas on the Internet become concretized, it is necessary that when people are offering their assistance and support they consciously think through and develop their insight before communicating.

The content of the dialogue and the subjects presented on this chat line raises a debate over the virtual self, and its implications on this community. Once a person is inside the Internet, they can adopt an identity of their choice. Identity is fluid on the Internet, and people often mask their "true" real life selves. Howard Rheingold claims that personal attention is a currency on chat lines. Thus, if the Internet is a resource where people can find power through the attention of others, then they may resort to any measures to achieve this goal. Chat lines such as, Psych Central create the ideal setting for people to receive sympathy, support and attention from soceity that they might not experience in real life. The virtual self and the creation of false identities raises the issue of truth on-line. This dilemma is alarming for Psych Central, because the topics discussed often involve life and death issues. While, deception may occur within the virtual community, the core element of Psych Central is trust. Members must maintain belief in the identities and experiences of others as they would in real life situations, in order to uphold the strength of the community.

In comparing this virtual community with real life, Psych Central is analogous to real world counseling programs and self help groups. This virtual community is similar to real life therapy programs because the real-time chat allows participants to share experiences, listen to others, and make a difference in someone's life by attempting to alleviate the pain associated with the individual's mental trauma. The communities focus and intent is to uncover, release and remedy troubled individuals who live in a world of darkness, and a world of pain.

While this virtual community does live up to its own statement and purpose to supply a forum of support to those in need of psychological assistance, there are distinct differences from real life therapy. Therapy through a virtual community loses important visual and nonverbal cues because the interaction does not occur face-to-face. However, this communication barrier can pose as a beneficial factor in therapeutic practices. The anonymity and formality of on-line communication may actually enhance the psychotherapeutic process. It may be easier for people to reveal sensitive personal information on-line rather than face-to-face. This form of communication eliminates facial expressions, and gestures that perhaps unintentionally, indicate emotions of surprise, approval, or dismay which may cause individuals to become more insecure and uncomfortable in confiding and continuing to discuss their problems.

Due to the limitations of communication through the Internet Relay Chat system, people are forced to use variations of textual communication, such as symbolic conventions to compensate for the lack of non-verbal cues and language. Psych Central has a glossary book of symbols to assist users in the communication process. For instance, the symbol ((( ))) is indicative of someone shouting out a message as a cry for immediate attention or assistance. Symbols are an effective way for people to express their emotions and communicate efficiently with one another and to overcome the boundaries of this medium.

Despite the differences of real-life communities and virtual communities, Psych Central proves to be a successful chat line. It demonstrates the elements and facets of a real life community that are necessary in making a functional and sound structure. In this virtual place, people have a common interest and goal, which is to provide a support system of helping others battle with their problems. Members of this virtual community are a collective body bonded through the hardships of life and mental suffering. Based on this ideal, Psych Central proves to uphold a key aspect of a community- to deal with and resolve conflict. Overall, the essential qualities necessary in the composition of a valuable and successful community are mutual respect, unity, comfort, spirit, identity, liberty, equality, leadership, maintenance of norms and a balance of rights and responsibilities; all of which are inherent and existent in the virtual community Psych Central.

Works Cited

Rheingold, H.(1993). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier, New York: Addison-Wesley, p.5.