The benefits and challenges of digital circles
Digital circles come with both benefits and challenges due to their inherent make up and usage. Thankfully, for most higher education digital circles the benefits outweigh the challenges; however, the challenges that some students may face whilst in a digital circle could have negative impacts on their wellbeing and mental health. Therefore, considering what benefits and challenges your digital circle may encounter and discussing ways these can be encouraged or prevented with colleagues is the best way for ensuring their success.
It is pertinent to consider what challenges may occur before the circle is set up so that they do not have be resolved retrospectively. Any potential challenges can be discussed within the netiquette guidance so that users are aware of the potential implications of joining the circle. Equally, it highlights what moderators of the circle should look out for so that challenges can be tackled quickly and effectively. If the circle is already set up, the netiquette guidance can be edited to account for any new challenges that arise.
The benefits
There is a wealth of research surrounding the benefits of digital circles within the context of higher education. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the common ways in which digital circles can aid, support, and improve the experiences of students in Higher Education.
- Fosters a sense of belonging and connectedness/togetherness
- Welcoming atmosphere through daily interaction
- Increases feelings of self-belief and autonomy
- Encourages camaraderie and peer support
- Act as a lifeline for people who don’t live on campus, are on placement, are older students and who may not have the confidence to interact in person
- Convenient and accessible always – “geographically neutral”
- Fast responses
- Allows people to express themselves (use of emojis, GIFs, pictures etc)
- Helps reduce stress and anxiety, and other mental health and wellbeing issues
- Helps broaden social networks
- Less intimidating than face-face and interaction is not mandatory
- Enables everyday greetings - "day-to-day micro-interactions"
- Can share documents
- Time to think before sharing information or opinions – less likely to rush into saying something that may be regretted
The challenges
Digital circles pose challenges within the context of higher education. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the common ways in which digital circles can have create negative and unhelpful experiences for students in Higher Education.
- Information overload (access to platform 24/7)- constant notifications
- Misinformation and rumour spreading
- Lack of privacy and data protection
- Addiction or reliance on digital community
- Prefer online to real-life
- Miscommunication and misunderstanding what group participants mean with the language they use
- Becoming too dependent on technology (frustration, social anxiety, depression) – because they are already spending too much time online during their online classes.
- Different time zones and cultural differences could lead to misunderstandings.
- Managing screen time.
- Mistrust, since they don’t know the people behind the screens it may become difficult to see if people are genuine or if it is safe to open up about specific issues.