People always have concerns about using the Internet regardless of whether it’s for a credit card transaction, or for meeting a potential partner. So it’s no surprise to us that those concerns have been brought to the fore once more when it comes to online support groups and meetings.

In this 5 part series, we address those concerns and show you how they are overcome.

Part 4. Non-Visual Stimulus

Quality of service is the number one priority of any support service. Online support groups service is no different. The concerns that arise here are about the absence of visual cues that are present in face-to-face meetings.

At first glance it would appear that computer-mediated communication could not be as rich and as valuable as face-to-face communication because of the lack of non-verbal cues (Daft & Lengel 1986), just like the telephone has been shown to uniquely affect how people converse.

However, just like the telephone, it appears that communicating online may offer additional specific advantages to people with a mental illness or difficulty.

To illustrate the advantages of non-visual communication, we will use the example of eating disorders:

• Without face-to-face contact and all of its accompanying self-consciousness, it may be easier to discuss weight and shape concerns. Online support offers opportunity for true anonymity, which can facilitate self-disclosure (Miller & Gergen, 1998).
• Communicating online neutralises potent social factors such as physical attractiveness or vocal characteristics (Davison et al., 2000).
• In a discourse analysis of a support group for people with eating disorders, Winzelberg (1997), found that the participants used similar supportive and helping strategies as those found in face-to-face groups.

So it is easy to see how a lack of visuals and face-to-face interaction does not necessarily interfere with the quality of the support service and in some cases can even be an asset to that support.