Tutorial Six

During this tutorial we looked at an online community that was of interest to us. I chose the T.O.P.S (The Otago Paranormal society) on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/pages/dunedin/TOPS-The-Otago-Paranormal-Society/161276754615?v=info&ref=ts&ajaxpipe=1&__a=20

This community explores paranormal activity in Dunedin, it is a place where like minded people can get together and share stories and have a chat.

The services provided by T.O.P.S, the organiser of the group will come to your house if you believe you have paranormal activity, he will with his equipment see if there is actually paranormal activity or if it is actually just everyday things that can explain it. People also write about their stories and post photos. They have group outings and explore places such as cemeteries, haunted buildings to find if there is paranormal activity.

Some people are very interested in this topic. I believe that this community provides like minded people to share experiences and get together and go ghost hunting.

Here is an example of a discussion on the T.O.P.S site.
Share your experiences
T.O.P.S (The Otago Paranormal Society) On this page you can share any experiences you have and if you want us to help, just message me and we can sort something out. It will not cost you for us to come out,but donations are always welcome, we do it to further this field in the Paranormal and help people understand, So fell free to discuss or post any of your experiences here, even photo's you may have taken that you can't explain.
To read more follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=161276754615&topic=10297

During this course we have looked at ethical issues, with this community people could make up their stories and not be held accountable. Also the information people could share about themselves raises concerns around safety issues. This is a Facebook linked site so people are identifiable although you have to be added as a friend to contact people directly.

The benefits of this community are that it gives people a discussion forum. It is closely linked to the traditional community as they still have the meeting face to face aspect for people in Dunedin, but anyone anywhere can be a part of the group online. As for what this community lacks compared to a traditional community i am not sure about.