research-article

The emergence of online widescale interaction in unexpected events: assistance, alliance & retreat

Authors:

Sarah ViewegAuthors Info & Claims

CSCW '08: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work

Pages 117 - 126

https://doi.org/10.1145/1460563.1460583

Published: 08 November 2008 Publication History

Abstract

This paper examines online, widescale interaction during an emergency event of national interest. Widescale interaction describes the potential for broad, immediate, and varied participation that the conditions of online forums, and social networking sites in particular, increasingly allow. Here, we examine a group on a popular social networking site as a virtual destination in the aftermath of the Northern Illinois University (NIU) shootings of February 14, 2008 in relation to related activity that happened in response to the Virginia Tech (VT) tragedy 10 months earlier. We consider features of interactions that are enabled when a vast audience converges under such conditions. We discuss how commiseration and information seeking are interrelated, and how geographical communities that share a common experience ally in such a public, online setting.

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The emergence of online widescale interaction in unexpected events: assistance, alliance & retreat

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cover image ACM Conferences

CSCW '08: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work

November 2008

752 pages

ISBN:9781605580074

DOI:10.1145/1460563

General Chairs:
Bo Begole
PARC, USA
,
David W. McDonald
University of Washington, USA

Copyright © 2008 ACM.

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Published: 08 November 2008

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