Forums on Handbag!
So finally moving onto the forums. The forum allows the users to become produsers and access user-generated content, whereby all of the content is produced by the users! Forums demonstrate how “the public sphere as face to face talk is clearly over”. (Lister, P.178) I
think that the forum is the section which has the biggest appeal of this website. These forums can be accessed from any page that you are on within the handbag website. As by the top by the handbag logo, in small writing, is a hyperlink for ‘forums’. One click of a button and you’re here - http://www.handbag.com/forums/ looking at the large choice of forums in which you can explore! There are lots of options of forums to interact with, which will appeal to a wide demographic audience! Some of the forum options consist of – entertainment, which is then broken down into even more options so that you can make a more select choice - http://www.handbag.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=10, diet and fitness – again broken down (they all are pretty much!) - http://www.handbag.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=135, relationships which offers users advice and guidance on their love life issues - http://www.handbag.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=26 , and many, many more!
The forum options seem to differ from what you would expect of the website from the homepage, it seems to expand from just being focused upon ‘beauty’ and the important things in life such as relationships, to being about family, green issues, and even having forums where people can offer advice/seek advice on technology issues. Basically, the forums offer the audience everything they could need? I mean there’s even a forum on motoring! http://www.handbag.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=47 .
4 comments:
So, does it form a real virtual community do you think?
I dont think the choice of forums makes it a real virtual community, but I think the people within the forums have (on some of the forums) made a real virtual community between themselves. But this is a personal opinion based on my experience of the website, I think that other people might not see the community within the forums like I do.
I think Megans point is really interesting, virtual communities I believe is in the "eye of the beholder".
For some people who analyze these forums, it is nothing more then a place where people sometimes check in, however for other people, it can be a place where they feel "at home" and with people like them discussing a certain issue, no matter for how long they may still feel like in a community.
This is a good point Sophia, and I would agree.
I think that different people get a different 'experiences' from different online places, and this effects whether they view it as a community or not.
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