Online Support Groups

Lesson 4: Managing an Online Support Group

On The Lighter Side Of Life

No matter how serious your group's topic is, it is nice to be able to 'forget' about it once in a while and just have fun. Remember that one part of your group's purpose for existing is to help the members develop friendships with each other. A great way to do this is to have off-topic events each week.

An event can be anything from a weekly chat to having everyone exchanging his or her favorite links. One of the things that I do in one of my groups is have a Random Questions day. On Tuesday, a list of off-topic questions is posted to the group and everyone is encouraged to answer them. The questions range from what kind of checks do you have to what would your 'perfect' job offer be. The group members look forward to this event each week, and have a lot of fun getting to know each other by answering, and reading the answers to, the questions.

Everyone will have a bad day at some point, but by having fun events in your group your members will have something to look forward to besides just the group's topic. How you decide on what kind of event(s) to have in your group will depend on your members. Although the group's topic is the main thing they all have in common, look for other common interests and see if the interests spark an idea for an event.

If you just don't seem to have any ideas, ask your members for their input. Let them know that you think it would be fun to start having one or two events each week, which will allow everyone to get to know each other better. Offer a list of suggestions to the group, and encourage them to voice their opinions on them. Your members might have a suggestion or two that did not occur to you, so consider all possibilities and then let the group decide which event(s) to have.

Having a joke day, quote day, trivia day, or any other type of event that is fun for the members and allows them to 'forget' the group's topic, will help with developing friendships. Friendships and trust among the members of the group leads to more support, and understanding for everyone. It has been said that there is a time and a place for everything, and your group should follow this.

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