History Channel Discussion Group on the Viet Nam War
I chose this on-line community because it is one the place I’m investigating for my final project in this course. As to how much use it will be is questionable at this point in time. The following quote from the Community Standards for the History Channel Discussion Boards just about sums it all up:
“10) When participating in an online conversation, never assume that people are who they say they are, know what they say they know, or are affiliated with whom they say they are affiliated.”
Given this as a starting point its usefulness for my project or in providing the answers for this week’s assignment is a bit of a challenge.
I’ll start with the first question for the guidelines: Who is involved in the discussion? Well in general I would have to say people have visited the History Channel web site and who have an interest in the Viet Nam War. The Community Standards pretty much leave membership open to anyone who will abide by the standards and the Terms of Service. There is no pre-screening to check qualifications, as most of the H-Net communities require.
Who are the members of the discussion community? This is even more difficult to answer since everyone uses a screen name. One chooses their screen name when they register and they can at that time provide biographical information. The biographical information if provided is used to validate the on-line persona. Most members claim to be veterans but there is no guarantee.
What is being discussed? Most of the topics are related to the Viet Nam War but since there is no moderator other items such as Jessica Lynch and the single mother who refused to return to Iraq slip in as well. The on topic discussions fall into a few broad categories: Who really won the war, Soldier stories and humor, What did you do in _____ (pick a year and or location), What was the best _______ (pick your type of equipment), What is the best/worst Viet Nam movie/TV program, and Can you help me find my buddy from _______. Not a lot of hard-core history here but very much in keeping with what the History Channel airs.
Is on-line discussion serving purposes that are not provided by other media? For this group it definitely is. The communities that gather at H-Net also have their professional journals, conventions, and symposia where they can carry on the type of activity they engage in on line. This community doesn’t have those other resources available for the exchange of ideas, comments and opinions. This and other general access groups like the soc.history usenet groups are about all they got.
Is this a real community? As long as it remains anonymous the answer is no. The old fashioned public interaction that used to form communities didn’t eliminate the fraud but one could still be reasonably sure of the gender and age of the other people and through speech and accent something of their education and origin. Until this community can present a more complete picture of who is on the other side of the screen it is not a “real” community only a playgroup.
