The nature of the Internet is that anyone can publish. Many volunteers see the Web as an opportunity to talk about organizations they have been involved with firsthand. Some will create their own web pages devoted to their experiences working with an organization. Most of these web sites are quite positive about organizations; a few, however, are negative.

When independent volunteer pages are positive, they provide an excellent way for your organization to reach more people. Visitors to these sites see your organization from an "unofficial" point of view, and may find the message more powerful because it is coming independently from a volunteer, rather than the organization itself.

Some organizations have actively discouraged volunteers from creating their own web pages about volunteering, even if positive, and have asked some volunteers to remove their pages altogether. Such action, however, can be perceived negatively by other volunteers, and perhaps even the general public -- your organization could be seen as trying to suppress comments about your agency that you don't directly control, and this can create a feeling of mistrust (certainly, if the web site promotes falsehoods, or makes libelous statements about an agency or its staff, proper legal action should be pursued).

Most organizations choose, instead, to ask volunteers who launch their own sites to make sure that it is clear their site is not the official web site of the organization, and to mention on the site that the statements made on the volunteer's web site may not reflect the views or mission of the organization, and so forth.

Below are examples of web pages by individuals that highlight their volunteering experiences, or promote volunteering at certain organizations:

• Online Volunteer Guide Especially for Teens
  A site by a former Virtual Volunteering Project online volunteer to highlight where and how people under 18, particularly in the Palm Beach County of Florida, can find community service opportunities.

• Volunteers For Reform
  Volunteers for Reform was established by a group of American Red Cross Disaster Services volunteers who say they "were terminated by their local chapter (Southeastern Pennsylvania) when they attempted to comply with the Code of Ethics by making chapter management aware of inappropriate behavior displayed by a paid staff member." This web site is an illustration of how volunteers can, potentially, use the Web against an organization.