>Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 10:53:22 +0800
>From: "John W. A. Angliss" <jangliss@ois.com.au>
>Reply-To: jangliss@ois.com.au
>Organization: Two Bob Productions
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>To: melzack@iinet.net.au
>CC: jle601@anu.edu.au
>Subject: Palloff and Pratt Sandbox paper
>
>
>"Playing in the Cyberspace Sandbox" - Palloff and Pratt
>Firstly I found this paper very interesting on a number of levels.
>I was interested to see research supporting the view that electronic
>communities go through the same processes and stages as physical life
>groups.
>I was interested too, in the role of conflict in bringing the group
>together as a group. I wonder if this is a symptom of people's growing
>emotional investment/ emotional comitment to the group, that people care
>enough to defend positions within the group?
>
>The paper noted the normative aspects of its structure - itself an issue
>of governance at the structural level.
>
>I was fascinated by teh notion of risk-taking as teh main psychological
>issue facing groups real or virtual. I think that is an important, and
>often glossed-over point. Thank you for that.
>
>I was interested to in the spirituality aspect. It makes sense in terms
>of promoting connections between people. It is something we have
>experienced and commented on in the Cybermind discussion list. An
>important dimension.
>
>I was interested too that the role of 'lurkers'  - the unseen - became
>an issue for the group. I wonder if anyone at various points 'de-lurked'
>to post their views on lurking?
>
>I think the last two points were vital ones - the issue of
>vulnerability, privacy and ethics; coupled with teh role of governance.
>It seems to me that these are two sides of the same issue, and it comes
>back to teh discussiojn about risk-taking. That to post to a group
>entails exposing oneself in some way, and that the environment or tenor
>of teh group dynamics needs to be sensitive to that issue.
>
>Finally I would like to thank you for submitting this paper to the
>conference
>
>Cheers
>Dr Jerry Everard
>Australian National University
>
>jle601@anu.edu.au