Practicum 3: Berenson, Online Support Groups

Practicum 3:

About 3 days after I made my profile I was invited to participate in tagged groups by existing members. I joined a forum that mimicked an online support group for young adults suffering from depression and began reading some of the thread conversations. I was faced with an ethical dilemma as I felt I was deceiving these people by pretending to suffer from an illness. Even though I wasn’t trolling or making inappropriate remarks I still was reserved from fully engaging in this supportive conversation because I felt like I was a fraud. People were revealing highly personal feelings and situations and I found myself extremely uncomfortable participating in the chat.  Due to the extremely intimate and personal content that some were revealing I almost found myself subconsciously judging of some of the peoples situation and I couldn’t help but jump to conclusions about what these people must be like based off stereotypes of some of the things they were saying even though I really knew nothing about them.  For instance a few of the people participating in the depression support group reminded me of those whiny people who everyone is friends with on facebook whose emo song lyric statuses pop up in your mini feed every now. Everyone knows at least one person like this, someone who over shares their private life and relationship status with the world via social media. I don’t doubt the severity of these peoples problems however the fact that some people used an anonymous iMedix chat (instead of talking to friends of going to a doctor) made me slightly skeptical. On the flipside of this, even when I thought about asking quesitons to others or engaging in conversation because anyone can make a profile and join these forums there is no guarantee that the information I am receiving is accurate. What if I actually was diabetic and took advice from someone who misrepresented them as overly knowledgeable on the topic? I feel like I would have the common sense to distinguish fact form fiction but take someone like my Aunt Judy; this woman literally will try any remedy her friends ‘swear by’ to cure common ailments no matter how bizarre they might sound. I feel the combination of an aloof and trusting personality like my aunts combined with the false credibility of iMedix could potentially be disastrous and maybe lead to a misdiagnosis. Over time I hope to actually build up to a point to message someone on iMedix and ask for advice rather than remain passively observant in a support chat. 

Here is a screen shot of the bare bones profile created using a fake name 'Ashley1'. I have continued to add ailments that I am interested in 'seeking support' with to the tags section as the project progresses.