There was a very interesting story on NPRs Talk of THe Nation yesterday. It was entitled, "Intervention on the Internet" and it spoke of the dramatic range of internet communities: from those who callously watched the young man commit suicide recently to others who step in and offer loving, compassionate care for people they only know from internet groups.
Here is a liink for a brief outtake from the author. Go to this link and click to listen to the entire 17 minutes. I thought about what a life saving place this community is. During the discussion period one man phoned in to say that when his wife died in January a group of her internet friends stepped in and did a number of things including raising $7K for his infant and toddller.
While there is talk of the dark side, I was deeply touched by the other side and am fascinated to know that there are other wonderful communities all over the web.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97819137I am very interested in reading some of your thoughts on this radio segment.