Blogging and beyond: building online communities

In Part IV, the contributors to (Web)Sites of Resistance explore the various ways of building online communities, in and outside of academia.

In the video blog “We Are the Media,” Mary C. Matthews details her experience in the world of video blogging, examining the ways in which women journalists are able to share intimate experiences through the video blog.

Hosu Kim’s “A Flickering Motherhood: Korean Birthmothers' Internet Community” explores the online support networks built by Korean mothers who gave their children up for adoption. Kim examines a nontraditional type of “virtual mothering” expressed by these women, which is enabled by an “epistemological and ontological shift from a human-centered paradigm” that “opens the possibility of a new body politics in this age of global teletechnology.” Kim also argues that the very existence of these communities “demands a critical examination of the practice of transnational adoption and women's sexuality in a transnational feminist framework.”

In “The Little FemBlog that Wasn't,” Shira Tarrant explores lessons learned from her experience using blogs in the classroom. This article should be especially useful for those thinking of using the blog to supplement & enhance class discussion. For those interested in learning more, we have also provided a “S&F Online in the classroom” section on the Scholar & Feminist website.