Observing Online Communities Londoners Participate In

Following our discussions on mental health, we thought the online ethnography technique (Design. Think. Make. Break. Repeat) could help us really understand what Londoners are experiencing.

We discovered the movement designed to improve Londoners’ mental wellbeing: Thrive LDN. It is citywide and supported by Mayor of London. I then came across the London Digital Mental Wellbeing Service, which has been set up a couple of years ago. Now named as Good Thinking asks you three screening questions to understand what you are going through and then lists recommendations based on what you answer. I think it does a great job in personalising the services and offerings to the individual specifically. Every individual who experiences mental health is unique to him or her, which is why it’s important to have these screening questions that will help the individual most effectively.

Good Thinking helped me find Health Unlocked which has online communities where Londoners anonymously post mental health related issues they are currently facing. I signed up as a member to a couple of communities like Mental Health Support, Living with Anxiety and Anxiety and Depression Support. I then decided to record what different users have been sharing on Anxiety and Depression Support community in the past week (which I determined as my criteria).

Some screenshots from the community I observed.

Some screenshots from the community I observed.

My observations showed that people experiencing anxiety and depression feel lonely, hopeless, insecure, overwhelmed and discouraged. They don’t know what their purpose in life is and lack the motivation of making a change. They are scared of being judged, of people worrying about themselves (which is why they don’t voice what they are going through). I then looked at the way different users interact with each other. Users remind each other that they are not alone and they are always here to listen. They also suggest things that could be useful to feel better and strengthen mental resilience (like books, quotes, therapists, etc.). This community acts as a safe haven where they can share what they are experiencing in full honesty, find out what they can do about their situation and feel that they are not alone.

The observations I did made me realise that individuals suffering anxiety and depression have a hard time voicing their feelings and lack the motivation to reach out. Knowing that they are not alone is usually helpful. As designers, our challenge is to design something that takes this into consideration. We aim to design a solution that will help individuals understand what they are going through, know that they are not alone and find out what they can do.