Animal Rights Zone Community - members, your feedback needed!

[Animal Rights]

Hello everyone,

I'm a graduate student at NYU.  My research is focused on the animal rights movement.  Particularly, I'm exploring new avenues for the dissemination of animal rights messages.  As part of this exploration, I'm currently researching virtual animal rights communities.  I was hoping to get your comments and opinions regarding our AR Zone.  Specifically, I'm interested in how you feel about your participation and membership the Zone in the following three areas:

1) interaction: have you connected with other people through the Zone? If you have, have you moved the friendship beyond the virtual sphere (have you become friends with someone outside this virtual place)? Have you developed long-term relationships? And most importantly, does your animal activism constitute the bridge that made these friendships possible?

2) motivation: what is your main motivation for becoming a member of the Zone? How long have you been a member and how often do you participate in Zone events, such as chats?

3) satisfaction: what are the best things about the AR Zone interactions for you? Has this virtual place improved your advocacy efforts, animal rights knowledge base, and so on? Please feel free to include any other information that is relevant to you! 

Thank you!

Regards,

Loredana Loy

[Jordan Wyatt]

Hi Loredana!

1 I would *love* to meet many members of the ARZone community, but as I live in Invercargill, New Zealand - Vegan capital of the world - http://www.invsoc.org.nz  and they in America, or worse, the largely uncharted lands of "Australia", distance is an issue :-)  Staying in touch through podcasts, email, facebook and Skype is nearly as good as "being friends with someone outside this virtual place".

2 I enjoy keeping up with the ARZone podcast ( http://www.arzonepodcasts.blogspot.com ) and chat transcripts to meet more people in the Animal Rights movement.  There are many approaches which I disagree greatly with, but without open discussion and debate on a forum like ARZone, where would we meet such interesting and profane individuals as Dino Sarma?

http://arzonepodcasts.blogspot.com/2011/12/arzone-podcast-24-its-in...

I've been participating in ARZone for....uhhhhhh, I'm terrible with dates.....longer than a year.  I always read transcripts, participate in live chats when I can.

3 I greatly feel the ARZone guestchats have helped me in my advocacy, through introducing a wide audience to other Vegans, and by putting a spotlight on perhaps "lesser known", even "part time" philosophers like Tom Regan, who had a whole week of coverage on ARZone


http://human-nonhuman.blogspot.com/2011/05/arzone-tom-regan-week-part-six.html

Best wishes to you Loredana, good luck with your research! :-)



 

[Tim Gier]

1)    interaction: I have connected with a multitude of people through the ARZone community, many of whom I have spoken with (via Skype) and a number of whom, while I’ve not met them in person yet, I’d consider them long-term friends and allies. Considering that the reason I am part of this community is my interest in veganism and animal rights, I would say that it is my activism that constitutes the bridge that has made these friendships possible.

 

2)    motivation: I first became a member of this community in order to participate in ARZone chats. I’ve been a member since April 2010 and became an admin in Aug 2010. I participate weekly in ARZone chats and podcasts and I aim to be involved in some way in the ARZone community at least three or four times each week.

 

3)    satisfaction: The best things about ARZone is the wide variety and diversity of viewpoints expressed by the members and guests. I learn something from every chat and podcast as well as from my interactions with members. I think that, in general, the animal rights movement is undertheorized. By that I mean that the movement operates, as best I can tell, without a comprehensive and cohesive underlying philosophy that serves to unite and inform its collective efforts. Perhaps that’s the way grassroots social movements are bound to be, perhaps my own view of the movement is myopic, but I do think that what we need more of is vibrant discussion and a careful examination of all opinions without a preconception that we have already found the “right way” to achieve the movement’s goals. Indeed, I’m not even sure that movement has yet clearly defined its goals. I think ARZone is and will continue to be a vital part of the process that can help the movement find its philosophy. 

[Janine Laura Bronson]

I requested friendship so we could email back and forth on this, Loredana and good luck to you at NYU have friends who went there, and just graduated last summer from U as well, finished my thesis that took me five years to conduct including surveys, research, interviews, and projects and on-the-job training and instructing others on equipment usage/engineering, etc...

[Dian Hardy]

New to AR Zone but drawn by the quality of guests and questioners.  Have read transcripts so far as a chaotic personal life has kept me from playing a larger part.  Want to support Tim's statement about the philosophical and theoretical aspects of the movement and the need to further define and refine POVs without prejudice.  I especially feel the need to connect with other progressive movements and share their understandings and was heartened to see that OWS has in its founding documents consciousness about farmed animals and takes a position. 

[Carolyn Bailey]

Hi Loredana!

Here are my responses:

1)   Interaction:  I have been fortunate enough to make some wonderful friends through ARZone. Some I expect to keep forever. I've interacted with many of those people in other places as well. I live north of Brisbane, Australia, so am a little isolated in comparison to many other people, but I do catch up with a lot of them over the phone, in Skype and other places. I do think that my veganism and activism is the thing that made our friendships possible, and stronger, although sometimes that can lead to heated debates as well! 

2)   Motivation:   My motivation for creating ARZone was to fill a void I saw in the online animal advocacy community for a place for advocates to feel comfortable in asking for advice in a non-confrontational setting, and being able to network with other like-minded people. Also I felt it was vital for newer advocates to be given an opportunity to learn from those who have been working toward ending speciesism for a long time, and to be able to ask for advice from those people in order to become better advocates. I participate in ARZone events each day. 

3)    Satisfaction:  I think one of the best things about ARZone, for me, is the opportunity I have to learn from a diversity of people on a huge array of topics. This has improved my knowledge of both human and other animals' rights and improved my advocacy in amazing ways. I also think one of the great things about ARZone is the sense of community, and the assurance people feel in being able to ask questions and state their opinions, knowing they'll never be ridiculed or dismissed. 

Good luck with this project, and thanks for the opportunity to participate! :)

[Kerry Baker]

Hi Loredana

1) I'm located in Melbourne Australia.  I do feel that this community is very valuable but is difficult being here to do any connection for causes outside of Australia unless they are global in nature.  I belong to the Vegan Recipes site and have posted comments there.

2) My motivation is to learn and I believe that it is not through politicians but through community action that things get done. For example the Australian Government has known for a very long time about abuse of animals sent overseas to slaughterhouses in Asia and the Middle East. But it took a documentary for them to finally take any action and now they have watered down the action to something similar to what went before. the interesting thing is that now an abattoir in Victoria (my State) was closed down a couple of days ago for cruelty to pigs and discussed on TV, which is something that I think is good as it demonstrates that we have to clean up our own backyard. I have been a member of AR Zone for about a year. I don't generally participate in the Sunday chats as I have IT issues, probably just my own lack of capability in using IT functions rather than anything else.

3) I am happy with the information and quality of discussion that goes on. I log in regularly to see what's happening and to gain useful information. I keep thinking I must improve my ability to use IT to participate more.

I hope this helps and good luck with your research.

[Dian Hardy]

That is your twisted sense of humor, yes, Roger?

[Maynard S. Clark]

Great question - answered in e-mail to you.

[Brandon Becker]

1. Yes. I have not yet met someone though ARZone that lives in my local area.

2. I'm an animal rights advocate. I've been a member since January 3, 2010 and joined to participate in the chats. I participate in events as often as I have time, sometimes attending the chats, other times sending in questions for others to ask on my behalf. I also leave comments on chat transcripts, podcasts, and the discussion forum.

3. The best thing is the site's openness to competing viewpoints. It's important to read and assess many different opinions to determine the best way forward for animals. This community has improved my advocacy efforts, animal rights knowledge, and overall strengthened the animal rights movement.

[Maynard S. Clark]

1. I have messaged a number of ARZone members whose profiles say they are in Boston, but none whom I hadn't known before has met me in person individually or at an AR or veg*an event, as far as I know.

2. I attend the weekly chats, with few rare exceptions; the intellectual dimension inspires me to return; it's far better than what I typically see in lower motivation groups.

3.  My returning each week is evidence of my commitment and satisfaction, as is my willingness to complete this survey.  Respondents are to some extent 'self-selecting' because only the more highly motivated (negative or positive) will respond in this way.