The Inspire Foundation’s Digital Dialogue: An Ethnographic Study

Rebecca Sandler

actnow.com.au

askmeaboutactnow.blogspot.com

blog includes: posts, PDFs, videos, and screen shots

J676—Katy Culver, Brian Ekdale

 The Inspire Foundation is a national non-profit organization with a mission to

create opportunities for young people to change their world. Established in 1996 in

response to Australia’s then escalating rates of youth suicide, Inspire creates

opportunities for young people to help themselves and help others. Inspire combines

the power of the Internet with face-to-face engagement to deliver 3 national programs:

Reach Out!, ActNow, and Beanbag (Inspire Annual Report 2007). I think that I have an

interesting perspective on the community because I previously interned for the Inspire

Foundation—I have information from behind the scenes as well as from observations as

a community member. I will be focusing on Reach Out! and ActNow, as they are both

online communities and are founded based off of similar research regarding young

people and the internet. Because of technical difficulties with the Reach Out! Web site,

my examination of the community will be more of a case study based off of previous

screen shots, rather than an ethnographic method (to be applied to the ActNow site).

Major research questions I will look into are the following: have accessibility issues

affected the communities?; without an age limit, what implications does this have on the

site?; and is this a community of exit?

Reach Out!

• Officially launched by the Hon Warwick Smith, Minister for Health and Family

Services in 1998

• Provides information, support, and resources to improve young people’s

understanding of mental health issues

• Aims to break down the stigma attached with seeking help, and connect young

people so they can share their stories and provide support

 • Anonymous

• Available 24-hours a day

• 2.1 million unique visits to Web site in 2006-2007

ActNow

• Launched in May 2006

• Increases civic engagement and social connectedness by creating opportunities

for young people to find out more about their world and take action on issues

they care about

• Driven by a youth participation (interns, site members, etc.)

• Program and young people are deeply involved in the design and operations of

the Web site

• 900,000 unique visits to Web site in its first full year of operation

One of the major strengths of the Inspire Foundation is the inclusiveness of the

organization because of the medium of the Internet. The Internet is able to uniquely

combine the knowledge base of formal sources with the accessibility of informal sources

of help. It is a widely available and convenient source of information (Gould et al): In

2001, 1,502,700 young people aged 15-24 years had used a computer at home. This

figure equates to almost three in five young people (59%), the highest proportion of any

age group (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001). Additionally, becoming a member to

both sites is easy—a few questions regarding name, age, gender, and a user is signed

up.
Reach Out!

The inclusiveness and accessibility of the Inspire Web site is even more crucial

when applied to young people with mental health issues; because there may be

boundaries to receiving help (whether it be the stigmas associated with mental illness,

money, or confidence), the Inspire Web site may be the only place young people feel

comfortable visiting. The Internet is accessible, anonymous, engaging, and informative,

providing a space where young people can feel empowered and confident to talk about

sensitive issues (Holloway and Valentine). The Reach Out! Web site’s format is

conducive to feelings of empowerment because areas on the site such as the Online

Community Forum help visitors take the first step in overcoming their problems; it is

important that site users know that they are not the only person going through a tough

time. Rejection by the public of people with mental disorders leads to social isolation

and results in their segregation (Leff and Warner). Often young people feel alone or

that they are the only ones going through tough times; however, the Reach Out! Web

site offers fact sheets and other people’s stories so that visitors to the site feel safe and

welcome.

<SEE APPENDIX 1 >

Existing survey research on the Australian third sector’s general use of Internet sites to

facilitate participation shows that very few organizations (less than 20 percent) provide

opportunities for collective-oriented deliberation through discussion forums or actions

(Vromen). Inspire’s Web sites all contain interactive forums and opportunities to
comment on certain issues or other members’ opinions. The opportunity to openly

discuss issues leads to an open environment where users feel comfortable and

confident enough to communicate. This collective communication is central not only to

the Web site, but also to the Inspire Foundation’s mission of creating opportunities for

young people to change their world.

Open communication on a Web site such as Reach Out! is essential to young

people’s mental health and well being because the lack of help-seeking behavior from

formal sources, such as mental health professionals, is one factor in the low rates of

treatment among disturbed adolescents. Research suggests that when disturbed

teenagers seek help (and two thirds do not), they prefer help from informal sources

(Dubrow et al). Similarly, many disturbed adolescents who fail to seek treatment cite

reluctance to approach others for help. Dubrow et al found that young people

consistently cited four reasons for this reluctance: feeling that their help-seeking would

not be kept confidential, feeling that no person or helping service could help, feeling that

the problem was too personal to tell anyone, and feeling that they could handle the

problem on their own. It is not surprising, then, that nearly half of all adolescents have

been reported to approach the Internet for information about health issues (Borzekowski

and Rickert), perhaps because it allays many of their concerns about confidentiality and

independence.

The Reach Out! Web site is a casual, comfortable, and anonymous way for

young people who are going through tough times to seek help from one another. With

over 2.1 million unique visits, it is apparent that Reach Out! is a main source for young

people seeking help. This high number of visitors who feel comfortable enough to
explore the Web site is significant because National Australian data indicates that of the

one in five children and adolescents with a mental health problem only 29% contact a

professional service of any type (Sawyer et al). The casual approach to inclusion can

be seen on the site’s main page: the language used is informal and instantly connects

with the intended age demographic (mid teens-twenty-something’s).

<SEE APPENDIX 2 >

While trying to access the Reach Out! Web site, I encountered the following

message: due to technical difficulties the Reach Out online community forum will be

closed until further notice. However, phone numbers of emergency services and

contacts were provided. Based on the statistic that only 29% of the one in five

adolescents that have a mental health issue contact a professional, it seems as though

means of communication via telephone are not ideal. The anonymity of the internet is

one the main appeals of the Reach Out! Web site. As a result, if users lose this crucial

aspect of seeking help, I think the site may become a community of exit, which may be

very dangerous to people in need.

The non-accessibility issue becomes even more alarming when it is taken into

account that some schools in Australia are required to connect to the internet using a

mandatory state government filtering system. This prevents access to not only web

based email, but also access to social networking sites. However, young people in

schools are able to access the Reach Out! site through schools (even though strict

censorship of most other social networking sites exists). For those students who either

do not have internet access at home, or who do not feel comfortable seeking out help in

person, access to Reach Out! at school becomes of the utmost importance. I contacted
the Reach Out! community manager regarding the technical difficulties and was told that

they are in the process of building a brand new site and was encouraged to offer any

suggestions for improving the Web site.

Throughout my observations of the ActNow online community, I had some

difficulties accessing the site because of a malware warning. I found it to be rather

frustrating: at some points I could access the entire site, at other times I could only

access certain pages, and still, at other times, I had no access to ActNow. However, as

of late, the entire site is up and running again. I certainly shared my frustrations with the

rest of the ActNow community and the Inspire Foundation finally addressed the problem

and posted this message on their homepage:

With that being said, once I was able to gain complete access to the site, the

community was easy to join and the layout of the Web site was visually appealing. To

join the community, all that was necessary was clicking a join ActNow link; following this

action, the user was prompted to provide some personal information (name, email

address, country of residence, and age). I was surprised to discover that a young

person of any age was able to join. Typically in the U.S. on Web sites frequented by

young people (MySpace, for example) if the user is under the age of 13, a parent’s

email address is required before the child is able to become a member of the site. The

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which took effect in the US in April 2000,
specifically protects the privacy of children under the age of 13 by requesting parental

consent for the collection or use of any personal information of the users. Congress’

intent in passing the Act was to increase parental involvement in children’s online

activities, ensure children’s safety during their participation online, and protect children’s

personal information (Electronic Privacy Information Center). Furthermore, MySpace

defaults all 14 year old and 15 year old profiles to private, which restricts access to

confirmed friends only.

When I entered the birthday of a 10 year old on the ActNow Web site, a message

saying “so, you’re 10 years old?” appeared, but no parental consent was required.

Australia has laws similar to the Children Privacy Protection Act; however, they cast a

much broader net than laws in the U.S. Australian law (although it has yet to come into

force) is a 2 tier censorship plan—one level of mandatory filtering for all citizens and an

optional level that would provide a “clean feed,” censoring adult material (Australian IT).

Likely, because of the nature of the ActNow Web site (educating and encouraging young

people to get involved in their community) and the fact that the Department of Families,

Housing Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is a major supporter of the

program, I think that the Web site is able to “sneak through” government filtering.

The discrepancy in the law certainly brings up concerns with extraterritorial

control should a legal issue arise. Not only is age difference a major worry, but the

issue of defamation is also different among countries. For instance, Australia’s highest

court ruled that in defamation cases, an article posted on the internet is considered as

published at the point where it is downloaded and read, and allowed an Australian

businessman to sue Dow Jones in Victoria over an article posted on its site from New
Jersey (Out-Law). This means that if an ActNow member in the U.S. posted defamatory

comments about a member from Australia, Australian courts would hold jurisdiction.

Similarly, this poses an interesting aspect as far as modes of control and

pressure from outside groups or advocates. The Inspire Foundation is a non-profit that

relies on funding from donors to remain functioning. It is expressly exhibited on the

Inspire Web site that a government agency (the Department of Families, Housing

Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) is a major supporter of the ActNow

initiative. A conflict of interest would certainly arise if an ActNow member wrote an

opinion piece that opposed a mission of the government agency—Inspire would have to

decide if freedom of speech, or funding for the program would be a more important

concern.

Just as easy as joining ActNow is creating content on the Web site. The user

must be an ActNow member to create content, but once logged in, simply clicking on

‘create a new page’ is all it takes. Numerous types of pages can be created, including:

an action page (a way to act on an issue), an issue, an interview, an opinion, a photo

gallery, a story, or a video. The next step is giving the page a name, and then the

member is free to create a page. While the process appears to be relatively

straightforward, an important issue arises regarding who is controlling and filtering the

content. As a member of the Web site, I would assume that ActNow follows its mission

statement and is a site for young people, created by young people. However, as a

former intern, I know that while this is mostly true, it is not entirely true. While a young

person creates the initial issue page, there is a definite hierarchical system. The

original topic choice is critiqued by the staff, as is the proceeding content of the issue
page. The issue pages (with topics including: human rights, education and work,

culture, environment, health, and my community) make up a majority of the site, so it

makes sense that there would be an editing process. Also, the purpose of issue pages

are to give educational and unbiased information about various topics, so it is important

that they serve that purpose. An issue page on domestic assault has received over

300,000 views, so it is crucial that the pages be correct and well-written.

Another concern with the issue pages (and other pages on the site where young

people are producing content) is the spread of misinformation and liability. If wrong

information (an incorrect statistic or statement) is disseminated to potentially hundreds

of thousands of users, the question then becomes who is liable? Is the ActNow user at

fault, or is ActNow as an organization to blame? This is the central issue in many court

cases involving the internet (for instance, the issue in the Napster case involved

whether individual Napster users should be held legally accountable for downloading

music, or whether Napster as a whole was at fault). Because young people are the

main publishers of all of the pages on the site, I think that the spread of misinformation

is a reasonable concern. As of late, the courts (in the U.S. and abroad) have been

ruling in favor of the individual users, so I am led to believe this would be the case in

Australia as well.

Another major component of the ActNow Web site is actually getting involved and

taking action. Members are encouraged to post pages about events happening in the

community that an important cause and promote learning about issues through doing.

Recent action postings include: the National Conference on Australian Prison Issues,

Buddha’s Day and Multicultural Festival, and Fair Trade Fortnight 2009. Web site
members are able to click a “find people acting now” link in order to see other ActNow

members attending the event. It appears as though most people who plan on attending

these events do not choose to publicize this fact online. However, for those that do, I

think that concerns about taking an online community offline come up. Because

ActNow allows users under 13 to become members, I think that most parents would be

upset with the Web site if their 12-year-old child attended an event without their

consent. I was surprised that there were no warnings about making sure attending the

event was okay with a parent; I have contacted the ActNow staff about implementing a

warning or a printable online permission slip and hope that they take my suggestion into

consideration.

As stated earlier, I think that the design and content of the Web sites (both Reach

Out! and ActNow) are suitable to the intended audience (teens-twenties). However, I

think that both may be communities of exit. When I interned at the Inspire Foundation,

interns were required to post a certain number of comments and events each week;

however, I have been in contact with other interns who have not kept up with creating

content after the internship came to an end. There is definitely a difference between

forced participation and voluntary participation and I think Inspire needs to look into how

to keep loyalty to their site because it does offer such valuable information. Similarly, I

think that the technical difficulties that I (and other users) encountered also encourage

the Web sites to become communities of exit. The number of Web site hits greatly

decreased while the technical difficulties were occurring and would not be surprised if

many members completely stopped using the Web site because the site was no longer

suiting their purposes for visiting ActNow or Reach Out!.

alexa .com

Overall, Reach Out! and ActNow stand by their missions and inform, engage, and

connect young people. However, with accessibility issues, the sense of community and

connectedness was lost and those choosing to involve themselves in the community

plummeted (as seen in the Alexa graph). The lack of age limit encourages young

people to get involved; however, I think 13 is a good marker of being able to contribute

reliable content, and attend events (with the permission of an adult). Since interning

with ActNow last year, the community seems to be less active and seems to be a

community of exit. Previous interns no longer feeling tied to the Web site after their

internships have ended, and technical difficulties have encouraged a lack of loyalty. I

think that both Reach Out! and ActNow have the right idea in asking the community (via

email and online survey) how to improve the site and make the transformation to a

community of investment.
 Works Cited
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<http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/9ba0bb65ce08ccc6ca2570820081db
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1189.
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Falmer, London.
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< http://www.out-law.com/page-3199> [7 May 2009].
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