Charlotte Vere - one of the directors at Big White Wall pointed me towards their unique web project. Big White Wall is like a combination of social network, support forum and online art project. It is a space (quite literally) where members can leave anonymous expressions of their everyday concerns and worries and have the community respond and comment. There are 6 main things that members can do:

1) Members can express their thoughts and feelings on “The Wall” using images, text or by drawing using the Brick Builder tool. Members can give a gift to a friend (in the form of a Brick) so they can anonymously vent their own feelings.

2) On “Talkabout“, members can connect to a dynamic community of users that talk about issues and concerns that are important to them.

3) Members can build friendship networks and exchange private messages.

4) On “Useful Stuff” members can learn more about themselves and particular emotional health issues by browsing stimulating articles from a range of authors including leading psychologists.

5) On “News Walls” members can express their open and honest feelings raised by news and events that are important in the world.

6) Members can learn more about Big White Wall’s commitment to offline emotional health projects and vote to support them on News Worthy.

I must admit, looking through the “bricks” that people have posted on the walls is quite addictive. There is a real sense of people trying to capture the essence of their pain/problem in a quick and visual way. The wall appears to be growing and thus takes a while to load, but it is certainly worth a browse. Clicking on an individual brick takes you to the specific information about that brick, as well as the comments that others have made. The team at Big White Wall believe that as natural support networks have disappeared, the internet has opened many possibilities for tying people into a global support network. Big White Wall seeks to provide people with a place to increase their emotional health through healthy (anonymous) expression and social networking.

Big White Wall are also keen to get some publicity for their Psychology Article Competition so here goes…………

The boom in social networking and the debate surrounding this phenomenon has resulted in a huge level of interest in Big White Wall’s Award for Psychological Insight.

However, due to the holidays and academic schedules, insufficient entries have been received to date, despite the $2000 prize for the winning article. This means that currently, an entrant has a one in two chance of winning!

To allow further entries and to ensure a publishable collection of articles, the submission deadline has been extended to February 28, 2008.

The competition is open to all psychology, counseling and therapy professionals and students.

Professor James W. Pennebaker, Chair of Psychology, University of Texas, has commented that the Award is ‘an excellent opportunity to explore internet-based social and emotional processes’

The Award

The Big White Wall Award for Psychological Insight will be awarded to the author of the article that best explores:

The psychology of networking online and its impact on emotional health

The Brief

From a user perspective, explore and contrast 3 - 5 social networks of your choice including Big White Wall.

From your experience as a site user and your interactions with others, draw out one or more of the following:

What motivates people to join social networks?

What underlies different levels and patterns of engagement with social networks?

What encourages repeat usage and loyalty to any one site? and/or

What are the overall benefits and pitfalls of social networking from a psychological perspective?

In conclusion, what do you evaluate as the impact of social networks on emotional health?

Write an article of 1500 - 2000 words based on your evaluation of your experiences which may include examples, quotation and diagrams and refer to relevant psychological theory as appropriate.

Further information

The competition closes on February 28, 2008 and the winner will be announced on March 15, 2008.

To enter or for further information, please contact: insightaward@bigwhitewall.com.