Complete manual/248/en

You may assume that the online communities you create or take part in through social media, discussion lists, and chat channels are inherently democratic, non-hierarchical, participatory, and relatively safe. However, within online spaces the same hierarchies, privileges, and power relations that exist in society in the offline world can be reproduced. It's important to be mindful of this and to think through ways to mitigate and limit these downsides in order to get the most utility out of the virtual and physical spaces we have. Using these strategies is about caring for ourselves and for the communities we are part of. Making these issues explicit and visible is also about agency, social justice, and feminism, by helping us shape the spaces that we care about, use to organize, and within which we grow.