Unsurprisingly, running Facebook groups to reduce stress leaves women more stressed
Would you share your most intimate thoughts with strangers?
Why women open up to closed groups
Ourrecent research on closed, female-focused Facebook groupsexplored some of the risks and rewards for women, particularly mothers, and their motivations for joining these groups.
We interviewed women who are members of closed Facebook groups. We studied four specific categories of Facebook users: partners of those in the military, migrant women, “mum bloggers” and “every day” mothers.
Participants told us they joined private or secret Facebook groups because they wanted a safe, trusted, gender-specific space for discussion.
But these groups require significant labor to create and maintain. Women undertake this “hidden” labor not only for themselves but on behalf of their families, institutions, and organizations. Groups are used to get information, advocate for their needs and often create a peer assistance community to cover gaps in other support services.
Some mum bloggers told us they joined the groups to seek “refuge” from their public blogging, while still often maintaining a more curated public presence, so as to escape surveillance, including from brands (as current or potential sponsors or partners), the mainstream media, and trolls.
Meanwhile, women whose partners were in the military sought spaces away from the intense expectation of the “ideal military spouse”.
Migrant mothersnoted that a shared cultural background, and common experiences such as loneliness orracism, increased their level of trust in the fellow group members and the information they provided.
And for everyday mums, the groups offer a chance to let the “mask of motherhood” slip and to take time out to seek advice and focus on their own issues.
The cost of caring
These responses suggest many women are seeking solace from their intensive caring roles as mothers and partners. But ironically, it takes a lot of work to create, maintain and participate in these groups.
Members and administrators of these groups work hard to make them safe, trustworthy, and inclusive. But with COVID lockdowns affecting much of Australia’s population, tensions have pushed some groups to breaking point.
Fiery exchanges around specific issues such as vaccines, panic-buying or compliance with public health orders, or generally heightened emotions amid the pandemic, have prompted some moderators to close or temporarily suspend pages.
Earlier this year, Facebookadmittedit needs to do more to reduce the risks involved in moderation and membership of closed groups, pledging to “continue to build and invest to make sure people can rely on these places for connection and support”.
While closed Facebook groups meet people’s need for a connection away from the glare of the societal gaze, the paradox of creating “private” spaces within a commercial platform that monetizes personal information also sits uncomfortably for many users.
The invisible work women undertake in these groups bring many benefits to their families, their employers, and to themselves. Recognizing this unpaid labor is vital and more needs to be done to train, resource, and support the volunteers who make and maintain these vital community resources.
Article byCatherine Archer, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Communication; social media researcher,Murdoch University;Amy Johnson, Lecturer,CQUniversity Australia, andLeah Williams Veazey, Postdoctoral Research Officer,University of Sydney
This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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