Welcome! 

 

I am a 28-year-old female with degrees in Art Education and Fine Arts.  I hope to obtain a Master of Professional Studies in Art Education from Penn State World Campus sometime in the coming years. I have just completed my first course at PSU--AED 814, Informal Learning.  This course, taken Fall 2013, is an exploration of how we learn outside of the classroom, whether it be in museums or through technology and social media. At the completion of this course I will be 24 weeks pregnant with my second child. Not long after I learned of my pregnancy, I began spending time in a forum via the website www.reddit.com, specifically in the subreddit, /r/babybumps. The use of this forum inspired my creation of this website and final project for AED 814. 

 

What is Reddit?

 

Reddit  (or reddit) is a social news and entertainment forum. Registration is free and open to the public worldwide. Registered users may submit content in the form of text-based posts or links to photographs and/or outside websites. They may then either "upvote" or "downvote" each post according to their opinion of its relevancy. This rating system determines the order in which posts are visible, and serves as a measure of popularity. Finally may submit comments regarding each post and upvote or downvote comments of other users. Link posts and comments receive "karma" points based on the number of upvotes received, where text posts are unable to garner any. Karma points have little tangible value in terms of site use, but having a high amount of karma will alert other users that you are a valuable and active member of the community, possibly contributing to their view of your content.

 

What are Subreddits?

 

Although there is a "front page" of reddit that shows the most popular posts, the website is broken down into various categories known as"subreddits," indicated by the use of the symbols /r/ preceding their title. Some subreddits share information such as /r/news, /r/science, and /r/technology, while others are simply for entertainment and image sharing such as /r/aww, /r/funny, and /r/videos. There are also discussion-based subreddits such as /r/askreddit, /r/relationshipadvice, and /r/parenting. Registered users may subscribe to these subreddits to consider themselves part of the "community."

 

What is /r/babybumps?

 

The subreddit, /r/babybumps, while open to the public, is intended for use by expectant mothers to discuss and share information related to pregnancy. This community has over 12,000 subscribers and will have between 50-200 active users at any given point throughout the day. This is a close-knit community made up of mostly expectant women. Users are often very active, posting new content and contributing comments more than once in a day. Common posts include questions about pregnancy, sharing of pregnancy related articles and blogs, venting about the woes and maladies of pregnancy, sharing of personal anecdotes, and updates about birth, including photographs of newborn babies. Users claim that these posts allow them to find solidarity among others in their same condition, reassurance when they are concerned about issues regarding their pregnancy and future child, support in their decisions or feelings, guidance when faced with certain challenges, entertainment related to the topic of pregnancy, and comfort in times of desperation or great loss--as in miscarriage or fetal illness. 

 

The Conception of /r/birthstories

 

As mentioned above, users commonly post as an announcement of their delivery and birth. Often these posts include pictures of their newborns as well as a detailed account of the labor and delivery--also known as a "birth story." Although generally positive, most women are very honest in their posts, and will often include graphic details, criticism of their support, expression of their regret for certain outcomes, and periodically information about tragedy or distress surrounding the birth (as in infant loss or severe medical trauma and illness.) Typically the comments on birth story posts are positive, supportive, and congratulatory. Additionally, many still-gestating women comment on the details of the birth and often ask the poster questions. Many comments are simply expressions of how users find enjoyment in reading these stories. 

 

I, too, found myself searching the /r/babybumps archives to read as many birth stories as possible. Not only did these keep me entertained, but I also found myself learning more and more with each story. I would learn about pain management techniques, various medical terminology, different practices used in hospitals around the world, and most importantly that each experience was completely unique. In browsing the archives, I found it somewhat difficult to find many at one time or to sort through the type of content each story might contain, based on the title alone. I realized that due to the volume of birth stories submitted to this subreddit (at least one or two a day) that these could be funneled into a subreddit of their own. This realization marked the conception of /r/birthstories. 

 

Continue to Definition of Informal Learning