Marnitta Harris
English 328
The Online Community of alt.fashion
The term community can be defined in many different ways according to the subject matter at hand. A community is basically a group of people who share similar ideas or beliefs. Dictionary.com has many definitions of community; however, one in particular states a community has the same “similarity or identity; or sharing, participation, and fellowship” (www.dictionary.com). One such community who shares a similar identity and a fellowship is the online community from the google network, alt.fashion. The members of this community speak regularly on topics that have to do with almost every aspect of fashion. They discuss skin treatments, work attire, interior designs for their homes, and every other conceivable topic that has to do with the world of fashion. Although they probably never meet face to face, these people speak in a different format that pleases them enough to continue their daily conversations.
One might ask the question, what makes this community that interesting that people give up their time to read and talk to people they probably have never met face to face? That may just be the reason that the people are so devoted to this commuity. They can ask questions candidly without having to be concerned whether the question is too stupid or just unrelated to anything. One would probably prefer an online community versus an organization where they would meet face to face because communication through an online format allows only words to be seen. When one has a conversation verbally, many things are taken into account. Body language, tone of voice, the way eyes look, and hand gestures all play a major part in oral communication. However, this community is able to get along so well because they do not deal with all of the particulars of everyday oral communication. The members of this community also do not have to be concerned with anything relating outside the world of fashion unless they want to be.
My process of selection of my group was solely based upon one of my major interests; which is fashion. This newsgroup allowed me to read the thoughts and focuses of people other than myself who were also interested in fashion. While following this newsgroup, I noticed that they are very task orientated and whatever the topic is that is what they discuss. The members of the newsgroup post questions on a daily basis about things relating to fashion that is on their minds. Between twenty and fifty questions are posted daily and included in those twenty to thirty questions are twenty to thirty responses. The responses usually answer the question correctly, but sometimes minor jokes and comic inclusions are added. An example of this was on March 8th when someone posted the statement, “The things the fashion gods do when they are angry.”
EmirianD
posted “They forgot to remind me that the last
time I wore my black velvet jacket, I had hung it up without repairing a hole
in the seaming of the sleeve. So Tuesday
I wore the damn thing all day with a gaping hole at the elbow. And let's not forget the Fashion Gods'
favorite trick: your black pantyhose run
while you're putting them on. And then
the next pair do the same.”
Kthy
replied “That's is why I always buy
several pairs before any big night out.”
Rosie
simply states “that was the last time i
put on a pair of pantyhose :)”
That was the end of the conversation about pantyhose and then
another conversation began about some other angry fashion god experiences. No matter what the posting is many of the
members of the community try to post some type of reply in order to help their
fellow community member with whatever problem is on their mind. Not all of the postings are just something to
talk about because someone had a question about “What did you buy today?” Some of the posts have genuine questions of
concern like “Hold the Botox, Nicole!”
The members of the community expressed concern and almost disguist about
the issue of women injecting their faces with botox to avoid having wrinkles.
Robert Matthews replied to the original post with “And the worst part is that the whole business of acting is expressing emotions with your body, and these people are deliberately depriving themselves of a crucial part of that expressive body, the upper part of the face.
An article in "Wired" a few months ago, about the creation of a convincing human face using computer graphics, suggested that with the increased use of Botox, computer animation was sooner or later going to be used to provide facial expressions to actresses who can no longer perform those expressions themselves.”
The members of alt.fashion are clearly knowledgeable of issues outside the fashion world; however, it is a decision that they all make to determine how much of that world they want to be concerned with.
Out
of the hundreds of posts that are on the site that have been there for so long,
I found one that was utterly and completely unrelated to fashion. On March 15th someone posted the
statement “OT-take a stand”. This post
was in relation to the conflicts in
Within this online
community of people who share the common interst of fashion and almost every
aspect of it lies a style of communication that is shared by all who enter into
a dialogue in this group. The term style
can be used to directly describe the online community because like the
conversations change daily, the definition can be changed to fit different
situations. Dictionary.com featured
quite a few definitions of the term style; however, the one best fitting the
idea of an online community stated “the combination of distinctive
features of literary or artistic expression, execution, or performance
characterizing a particular person, group, school, or era.” (www.dictionary.com)
This definition of style is befitting of the group because they do share their
own style of communication, jargon, and expressions that they only
understand. If one does not keep up with
fashion or does not know anything about brand names or designers they would
probably get lost in a sea of the fashion icons of our age. An example of this is found on a March 23rd
post when someone asked the question “What is your everyday purse?” Normally
this probably would not be a very difficult question to answer; however, when
dealing with this newsgroup, the basic details will just not do. They are very in depth with every reply to a
posting.
JOshiro began the conversation with “Hey fashionistas,
I just bought a Coach small leather flap purse in cherry red (!yes!) on ebay. Goody goody, can't wait for it to get here, just in time to go with bright spring/summer clothing. I have a large black Kate Spade vachetta purse for fall/winter formal events, a pale tan Lancel leather purse for summery stuff, and now the Coach maybe to span the seasons...? Hm. But my every day purse is a $7 faded black hemp sack. I'm thinking it's definitely time to upgrade. I like leather, small size, and the bag has to stand up to a lot of wear. I generally shove the purse into my computer bag when I go to work, and it only carries a phone, PDA, wallet, and lip balm. What do you carry? What do you recommend for me?”Instead of simply stating that she purchased a new small red purse, she states the maker and where she got the purse from. She discusses her seasonal purses and goes into detail about her everyday bag, which seems to be too small for all of her necessities. When dealing with this site it seems as if one should study brand names and designers before they get too involved.
The group alt.fashion turned out to be an
excellent group to follow. They are a
real community despite their distances and differences. The members of the group are different sexes,
races, and they come from many different backgrounds; however, none of this can
be seen. Nothing outside of the computer
screen and someone’s posting about fashion is important to the people of this
community. They speak poliety to one
another and respect each other’s opinion about the subjects at hand. They answer questions to the best of their
knowledge and have a real rapport with each other, regardless of where they
come from. That is probably the best
part of becoming involved in an online community. No one can be judged on their looks or
background. Everyone in the community is
on the same level and they all understand that.
It is almost like an unspoken rule among the members of this group. They show respect to others and receive the
same respect in turn.
Works Cited
EmirianD., Kthy, Rosie. “Things the Fashion gods do When They are Angry”
Online posting.
JoShiro. “What is your Everyday Purse?” Online posting.
Winyan. “OT- Take a Stand” Online Posting.