Empathy online

Members of online support communities help each other by empathising about common problems and exchanging information about symptoms and treatments. Results from two studies indicate that: empathy occurs in most online textual communities; empathetic communication is influenced by the topic being discussed; the presence of women tends to encourage empathy; and the presence of moderators not only reduces hostility but also appears to encourage empathy. The paper explores how empathy may be affected by pace of interaction, mode of expression and the way people reveal themselves in synchronous and asynchronous communities. As we advance towards technically better computer virtual environments, it is timely to pay greater attention to social issues such as empathetic communication.

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