Journal 5: Networking

Due to Zooniverse being an online nonprofit, I have not been able to meet anyone and build connections. It turned out to be the only downside to volunteering online that I had not thought of previously. However, Zooniverse does have a section for every project that is called “Talk”. In this section, people ask questions about different things that may not be classified as gravity waves, instabilities, or aurora. For example, someone in the “Notes” tab of the “Talk” section once asked what was in a part of the video, to which someone else was able to say that it was a meteor (shooting star). Although the connection of talking to people in person is not there through Zooniverse, volunteers can still build some kind of connection online.

Although I have enjoyed learning about the project and volunteering through Zooniverse, I do wish I could have built more connections that I would have otherwise done if it were in-person volunteering. Nonetheless, I still learned about a new topic that I did not know much about prior.