My experience as an online volunteer blog mentor

In addition to researching and compiling information online mentoring (the most comprehensive information on such, in fact), and helping to create numerous online mentor programs, including this one for an Austin, Texas elementary school, I have also had the pleasure of serving as an online volunteer mentor on several occasions. In 2005 and 2006, I was an online volunteer blog mentor for the Young Caucasus Women Project. Recruited from current Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program students, young women from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia currently living in the USA are being trained in citizen journalism, and part of the training includes learning to publish their own blogs. Once they learned the basics of blogging, then the student's own blogging bagan. Now, at the start of the week, an online volunteer mentor posts a suggestion for the week's blog topic, and each student posts a blog of her own on that topic, as well as comments on each other's blogs. The students may post on other topics throughout the week as well. This continues until the student leaves the USA. After the students return to their home countries, they will receive a monthly blog assignment, but they may post to their blogs as often as they like. The volunteer mentors are experienced adult bloggers from around the world, with a particular focus on bloggers from developing countries who are having an impact on the dissemination of news from their countries.

The purpose of this Project is to:

highlight the similarities and learn about the differences between young women in these neighboring countries.
promote citizen journalism in developing countries as an alternative to mainstream media.
promote blogs as a method of democratic expression.
expose young women to journalism and technology.

Mentor's suggested topics that students have been asked to write blogs on include:

Volunteerism: just unpaid labor or a tool for empowerment? (yes, that was mine)
Strengths and Virtues: what are your strengths of character? What would it be like to make the cultivation and employment of your character strengths a significant part of your life?
Responsibility: What are your responsibilities right now and how do you feel about them?
Friendship from a Distance

I can't speak to how well the program will meet its stated goals -- that's for someone else to measure and report on. But I can speak to what it's been like to be an online mentor. In this most recent experience, from my point of view, what's been important to remember as a volunteer for this project is:

that these students are not native English speakers, and are often self-conscious about expressing themselves in writing in this language that is not their own
that volunteer mentors and students will never meet face-to-face, so volunteer mentors need to maintain a very positive, upbeat approach in their written communications, so that students feel warmly supported by them
that volunteer mentors are adults, and need to be careful not to talk "over the heads" of these students, all of whom are teens, or to write something that sounds overly critical or sounds in any way insulting
that these students come from areas with very different values, very different standards of living and very different beliefs than those of "the West."
that misunderstandings are bound to happen; you work to avoid them, but when they happen, you work to mend and hurt feelings.

As with all online mentor experiences, the hardest part is when my role is over, and the young person moves on -- I will wonder what different I made, if any, if the young people are doing well, how their interests and planned activities have manifested, and if there is more I could do. But various issues -- most especially safety and logistics -- keep such continued relationships from happening.

If you are interested in creating an online mentoring program, for young people or adults, see the Virtual Volunteering Project's information online mentoring -- still the most comprehensive information available.

Also:

Being an Online Mentor: A Real Relationship, A Real Commitment
(What I've Learned as an Online Mentor)
In addition to researching and compiling information online mentoring for many years, and helping to create online mentor programs, I have also had the pleasure of serving as an online volunteer mentor on several occasions. Mentoring someone online takes real time and commitment. The work required for online mentoring doesn't happen only at the most convenient time for the volunteer. I have learned a lot by being a part of these online mentoring programs and share my experiences and advice for online mentoring here.

There are detailed suggestions about how to create a successful online mentoring program in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. There is also a list of online mentoring programs at the virtual volunteering wiki.

Return to online culture tools & resources
Return to volunteer-related resources

Also see:

Incorporating virtual volunteering into a corporate employee volunteer program (a resource for businesses / for-profit companies)
Virtual volunteering - volunteers providing service via a computer, smart phone, tablet or other networked advice - presents a great opportunity for companies to expand their employee philanthropic offerings. Through virtual volunteering, some employees will choose to help organizations online that they are already helping onsite. Other employees who are unable to volunteer onsite at a nonprofit or school will choose to volunteer online because of the convenience.
Creating One-Time, Short-Term Group Volunteering Activities
Details on not just what groups of volunteers can do in a two-hour, half-day or all-day event, but also just how much an organization or program will need to do to prepare a site for group volunteering. It's an expensive, time-consuming endeavor - are you ready? Is it worth it?
Using Third Party Web Sites & Volunteer Matching Apps to Recruit Volunteers
There are lots and lots of web sites out there to help your organization recruit volunteers. You don't have to use them all, but you do need to make sure you use them correctly in order to get the maximum response to your posts.
Using Video to Support Online Volunteers/Remote Volunteers.
Video is a great way to further support volunteers, and your computer probably already has all of the tools you need to make a video, or to engage in a live video conversation with others. Video isn't something to use only with online volunteers or remote volunteers (those providing onsite service at a different location than yours). It's also a tool you can use with new and current volunteers. In addition to an organization producing videos for volunteers, it can also work the other way around: volunteers can produce videos for organizations. This resource provides information on your options, and links to my own short video on the subject.
Recognizing Online Volunteers & Using the Internet to Honor ALL Volunteers
Recognition helps volunteers stay committed to your organization, and gets the attention of potential volunteers -- and donors -- as well. Organizations need to fully recognize the efforts of remote, online volunteers, as well as those onsite, and not differentiate the value of these two forms of service. Organizations should also incorporate use of the Internet to recognize the efforts of ALL volunteers, both online and onsite. With cyberspace, it's never been easier to show volunteers -- and the world -- that volunteers are a key part of your organization's successes. This new resource provides a long list of suggestions for both honoring online volunteers and using the Internet to recognize ALL volunteers that contribute to your organization..
Lessons from onlinevolunteering.org
Some key learnings from directing the UN's Online Volunteering service from February 2001 to February 2005, including support materials for those using the service to host online volunteers.