John Suler's The Psychology of Cyberspace

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Meetings of the Palace User Group

Some members experience meetings of the Palace User Group (PUG) as rather chaotic. To me, they don't seem any more so than many a meeting I have attended in the real world. The visual structure of the room - a stage with neatly aligned rows of seats - helps provide structure and order to the meeting itself. In the picture above, people were encouraged to wear smileys in order to avoid large props that would cause crowding. I think everyone wearing the same prop also encouraged a feeling that status was being "equalized" and that "we are all the same here... we are all Palace Users." It probably encouraged group motivation, identification, and cooperation, rather strictly self-centered motivation. The picture below illustrates the use of a simple but effective visual tool for helping the meeting run smoothly - the use of the "Q" sign to indicate that one is "raising one's hand" and has a question or comment.

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