By Mashum Mollah
With the introduction of the internet and online communities, there are no boundaries for connecting with other people. The thoughts and cultures are moving from one place to another only because of the online communities. But with this movement, there is still one space that binds together all the people from different parts of the world with similar thoughts and views. It is known as the “Discourse Community.”
What is a discourse community?
A discourse community is a term used for a group of people who share similar views on a particular topic or, in other words, ‘speak the same language.’ They actively share their knowledge on certain issues and hold a specific vocabulary when that topic pops up among different communities. The topics range from various popular issues such as politics, human rights, or anti-terrorism.
In this article, we will speak about the different consequences and benefits of a discourse community:
Helps to remove stereotypes
You might have come across online debates where people keep ranting about specific topics that are against their beliefs and values. When any issue is related to us, we feel alienated and start judging the people who have poorly spoken about it. Be it religion, caste, or gender, the topics are countless, and so are the views of different people. Everyone starts making their own judgments, which in turn expands the topic without benefitting anyone. For example, if a man or a woman speaks on women related issues, they are called feminists.
Similarly, there are other words for people who share their thoughts on certain topics but are judged based on their gender. But all of such problems are effectively tackled when it comes to discourse society. It enables people to hold their beliefs and set up an anonymous blog where they can speak about the issues they really care about. Hence, having conversations through discourse society by writing an anonymous blog can help people to share their views and put up their opinions without getting judged by anyone.
Creation of a support network
The only way where we get to share our thoughts and views with others is through public communication. With the advanced technology and its usefulness, people have turned their attention towards creating a more comprehensive online network. The internet has, in turn, proven to be the most powerful and helpful tool for people who need support on controversial or self-help topics. Thus, whenever you find someone facing any issues like career failure or physical abuse that you have gone through, you set up a support network for them. This support network, which helps others to work towards a particular cause, can be called a discourse community.
Therefore, you can use the internet to create a support network with this anonymous blog, which can help people communicate with each other on specific issues.
Helps to speak against wrong
Have you ever come across a situation where you don’t feel comfortable and right about a certain thing but can’t do anything about it because of lesser support? We live in a world where different issues arise every day, but we don’t have enough courage to stand against the government or administration to get rid of those issues. There are many issues like sexual harassment at the workplace, unequal pay scale, rape, caste discrimination, and numerous others that need to be taken into action. But whenever a single person raises his/her voice against these issues, they are harassed and threatened to death. With this fear of harassment, they often end up voicing their opinion.
But, this can be a different case when it comes to discourse groups. Here, anyone can speak up and voice their opinion easily in this anonymous blog. Hence, creating discourse platforms can help everyone in society to share their thoughts and voice their opinions anonymously without worrying about the harassment they can face.
Sharing stories
Another significant benefit of the discourse community is that people get to share their stories without getting judged. Everyone has a story that includes their experiences, failures, and successes. But, we never get a chance to share our stories as we get lost in our daily lives, struggling to complete the office hours and then commuting back home to spend time with our family. This routine takes us away from the realization of the things that made us a better person, taught life-changing lessons, and put us through difficult situations.
If at any point in time, you feel that your story can inspire others or teach them a lesson, make them avoid the mistakes you have made in your life, then you can join a discourse community that will help you in sharing your story. You can reach the anonymous blogs to share your stories if you are not willing to disclose your identity. Sharing your story and reaching out to other people will make you feel satisfied and grateful for what you have gone through.
To help others
In recent times, the discourse community has proven to be an effective platform for people who seek support for basic survival needs. You can create a discourse platform for such people where everyone can contribute and help them by donation or other means of support. With this platform, you can even present the issues to government officials and ask them to take any action to fulfill the needs of such people.
If you think there’s any problem that needs to be solved with the help of other people, present it to the discourse community that can solve the problem. It will help people in troubled times and help them to get rid of the suffering.
You won’t find any other platform as effective as the discourse community’s platform where you can raise your voice and also help others to speak up on important issues. You can connect to countless numbers of people from all around the world who share the same beliefs and thoughts. So, don’t feel afraid of anyone and let your feelings flow out on the internet and speak for the truthful and righteous things.
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