Advantages And Disadvantages Of Online 
Advantages of online communication
❏ Flexibility: accessible 24×7, anyplace as long as you have an internet connection. We have seen this advantage come through clearly in the user patterns of each of our consultation sites. Some 70% if visitors to our sites do so during their working day with peaks around morning and afternoon tea. It is quite clear that the majority of users take full advantage of the convenience of the opportunity to get involved in the discussions while they are at work rather than in their own time.
❏ Levelling: reserved people who usually don’t speak up can say as much as they like while “loud” people are just another voice and can’t interrupt.
We have seen this phenomenon play out repeatedly on many of our client sites. The main
“levelling” benefit for me is the “democratization” of the thoughts, ideas, suggestions, value statements etc that occurs through anonymity. In theory, all views should be seen as equal, with their merit tested against the logic of the argument. However, as we know, in reality, all animals are equal; except pigs, which are more equal. The power attached to position can often overwhelm the logic of an argument. Divorcing the comment from the commentator removes this power. The interpretation becomes all about the “text” and the merits of the line of argument, rather than about the personalities involved.
❏ Documented: unlike verbal conversation, online discussion is lasting and can be revisited. The asynchronous nature of the forums means that days or even weeks may go by between comments within a particular discussion thread. This does nothing to lessen the value of the individual contributions, whereas a verbal conversation inevitably moves on and it can be difficult to take the conversation back to an earlier point; particularly for a less forceful participant.Using forums as a conversation documentation tool is one of the key benefits our clients gain from online engagement processes.
❏ Flexibility: accessible 24×7, anyplace as long as you have an internet connection. We have seen this advantage come through clearly in the user patterns of each of our consultation sites. Some 70% if visitors to our sites do so during their working day with peaks around morning and afternoon tea. It is quite clear that the majority of users take full advantage of the convenience of the opportunity to get involved in the discussions while they are at work rather than in their own time.
❏ Levelling: reserved people who usually don’t speak up can say as much as they like while “loud” people are just another voice and can’t interrupt.
We have seen this phenomenon play out repeatedly on many of our client sites. The main
“levelling” benefit for me is the “democratization” of the thoughts, ideas, suggestions, value statements etc that occurs through anonymity. In theory, all views should be seen as equal, with their merit tested against the logic of the argument. However, as we know, in reality, all animals are equal; except pigs, which are more equal. The power attached to position can often overwhelm the logic of an argument. Divorcing the comment from the commentator removes this power. The interpretation becomes all about the “text” and the merits of the line of argument, rather than about the personalities involved.
❏ Documented: unlike verbal conversation, online discussion is lasting and can be revisited. The asynchronous nature of the forums means that days or even weeks may go by between comments within a particular discussion thread. This does nothing to lessen the value of the individual contributions, whereas a verbal conversation inevitably moves on and it can be difficult to take the conversation back to an earlier point; particularly for a less forceful participant.Using forums as a conversation documentation tool is one of the key benefits our clients gain from online engagement processes.