Guest_Jim_* Posted April 23, 2015 Posted April 23, 2015 It has been interesting to see how the Internet has changed over the past decade, with social media effectively replacing forums as a means of interacting with others. Despite that change though, forums are still regularly used by many, and are impacting people's lives. That impact may be more than you expect though, as researchers at the University of Exeter have found forum use can significantly improve a user's well-being. For their study, the researchers surveyed users of forums with stigmatized and non-stigma-related topics, such as mental health issues for the former, and golf for the latter. The survey asked about why people joined the forum, how their expectations were fulfilled, how they identified with other users, their satisfaction with life, and their offline engagement with forum issues. What the researchers found is that those who sought out forums for answers also found them to be sources of support, especially for stigmatizing issues. As the users engaged more, regardless of the nature of the topic, they became more willing to get involved in related offline activities. As the researchers sum up, by putting more into a forum, the users can get more back. As this also results in more offline engagement and activities, such as volunteering and donating, society can come to be significantly impacted as well. Source: University of Exeter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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