Evolving the collective conscious: a closer look at the offline actions of the online world

This thesis applies Anderson and Meyer's (1988) theory of social action media studies to examine whether social action occurs offline as a result of controversial topics discussed in online communities. One example of this is the blog PostSecret.blogspot.com. PostSecret is an Internet blog that encourages viewers around the world to mail in personal secrets in the form of a postcard for online posting. The blog potentially supports the development of social action through its allowance for open discussion of controversial and socially taboo topics. A hybrid media analysis will incorporate an ethnographic study, online discussion forum and semiotic analysis. Currently, the communication field has extensive scholarship regarding online community building, the impact of such on local community building, online community communication methods and other facets of online communities; however there remains limited scholarship on the offline actions that occur in response to controversial or socially taboo discussions that develop within online communities.