Posts tagged ‘Twitter’

May 20th, 2011

WEGO Health Loves: Twitter Chats!

by Amanda

This will come as no surprise but we love Twitter Chats! And, as you probably know, our Health Activist community loves Twitter Chats too! Whether you call it a “tweet chat” or a “Twitter Chat” and whether you lurk, participate, or moderate – you’re hooked and we love that. As we learned from #DSMA creator Health Activist Cherise this past Monday, there is really no supplement for Twitter: it’s in real time, wide-reaching, mobile, and you can choose your engagement level.

Using a hashtag is a great way to group your community members’ thoughts together and, by organizing a collective time to use the hashtag – in a Chat , it makes for an invaluable experience. Personally, I’ve never seen an hour pass so quickly as it does when you’re participating in a Twitter Chat. It’s easy to be pulled-in, completely immersed, and fully engaged by everyone’s thoughts streaming in and onto your screen. The chats serve as a great way to meet new people, hear new thoughts you hadn’t considered before, and plan some great topics to discuss in your blog or other communities!

Have you started your own chat? Do you participate in one or more chats? We’d really like to collect all of the health-related chats (and #hashtags) in one place and create a directory. That way we can encourage our community to participate (and lurk) across conditions and see how other communities are taking the Twitosphere by storm! There are so many chats going on – it can be difficult to keep track. So hopefully this directory will be a great way to see all the options out there (and promote new chats as they spring up!)

Tell us about all the health chats and hashtags you know of, and we will send you the directory when it’s completed! We can’t wait to see how many new chats there are and help promote the great work you and your communities are doing!

Share your chats here!

CategoryTwitter, Twitter chat, wego health, WEGO Health Community, WEGO Health loves | CommentNo Comments »

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May 9th, 2011

May Poll: Your Community, Your Reach

by Amanda

Alright, let’s see what Health Activists have to say on our May topic!


Think about how you interact with your community now – what’s your go-to way to connect with others?  Now, think into the future of your health advocacy – what would you like to try to take your reach, your connection, and your awareness events to the next level of awesome? Every community is a little different and hearing which social media platform or awareness plan inspires you can help us all see who is using what and how we can work together to improve our overall efforts across conditions!

 

Share your thoughts here:

 

Be sure to check back at the end of May to see what your peers had to say and what tips we’ve gathered to help you expand your reach!

CategoryHealth Activist Poll, health activists, May, survey, wego health | CommentNo Comments »

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May 4th, 2011

Expanding Your Health Advocacy: Two Webinar Events To Attend!

by Amanda

This month we’re focusing on expanding our advocacy and learning from each other – so, right in line with that are two upcoming webinar events we’ve planned featuring two unique Health Activists who have awesome experiences to share and some tips to offer us all on the idea of going beyond and intensifying our activism by diversifying our efforts.


First up we will get the inside scoop on the Twitter Chat phenomenon and talk about how to use it to inspire our advocacy overall. During this 30 minute webinar chat, we will meet Diabetes Social Media Advocacy (#DSMA) Chat creator Cherise Shockley! We’ll discuss what inspired Cherise to create the chat and what helped to make it so successful and popular amongst online community members. We’ll also hear about how Cherise uses that chat as a jumping-off point to inspire advocacy in others and see how the chat has inspired conversation in and out of the Twitosphere. Most importantly we’ll come up with a list of ways for you to take what you tweet and create better, more effective advocacy!

Join us for this webinar with Cherise on Monday, May 16th at 7pm EST!

RSVP to the event here!


Next we will get into the idea of taking your online activism offline! During our second 30 minute webinar chat, we will meet Jen Pettit, Sjogren’s Syndrome Activist, blogger at “UII – Understanding Invisible Illness,” and in-person-advocacy extraordinaire. As online Health Activists, our efforts center on utilizing the web for our outreach. Let’s see how to take it to the next level and get up close and personal with our work.  Jen is no stranger to getting face-to-face with her advocacy and has some great tips for starting your own organized event or simply educating people in-person about your condition. In this webinar we’ll discuss how to get started, the differences between online and offline awareness, what you need to run your own event, and key points to remember when meeting to discuss your mission IRL (in real life).


Join us for this webinar with Jen on Thursday, May 26th at 7pm EST!

RSVP to the event here!

 

CategoryMay, Twitter, Twitter chat, webinar, wego health | CommentNo Comments »

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March 28th, 2011

Disclosing Health-Community-You

by Amanda

Ready for a smoothie made of all your online activity?

Each health community has its own language, etiquette, and environment – unique unto itself. But now, as the internet moves toward easier, all-encompassing sign-in options (think: commenting on posts through Facebook or Twitter accounts) – will those unique and essential qualities be threatened? Will we be able to control our disclosure if all our online profiles merge? The question here seems to be not “will our health communities be affected?” but just “how much will they be affected?”

Logging-in through Facebook may be a good way to get more people involved in conversation quickly - but this also means all of your online personas and conversations get aggregated into one place. Are we ready to make a composite version of ourselves, comprised of our “at-work” or “with-our-BFFLs” or our “patient” selves? Many of us disclose openly with those closest to us – are we ready to have Facebook decide our disclosure for us?

In her thought-provoking post from Friday, “Does Your Health Identity Belong On Your Facebook Wall?” writer Veronica Combs brings up a very important topic that’s so relevant to Health Activists and online health community members alike:

It’s a bit of a cliché to say, “Online health is different!” but it might be true in this instance. Some health issues are very personal and not always for general consumption. People who seek out online communities to find support for miscarriage, depression, or sexually transmitted infections may not want their Facebook friends to be part of that social circle.

If a health site adopted Facebook comments, commenters wouldn’t have the choice of keeping their online activities separate. Many health sites have a better understanding of privacy issues than general web sites, so chances are they would offer other commenting options. The benefits of the Facebook plug-in are persuasive, though, particularly for small sites that may not have a large tech staff or that need all the traffic they can get.

What do you think? Would you order an online-you milkshake (with straws for everyone you interact with online) or pass? How would having your health communities’ conversations popping up on your Facebook feel? Are you already prepared for this and take precautions in case you are ever held accountable for all of your online activity?

Veronica’s point about online support communities is an especially important one to for health leaders to consider. As leaders of your own space – the safety, comfort, and control you afford your members (like any great host does) – is of utmost concern. And as we know, many people, quite literally, seek refuge in their online health community. The trust built there is sacred and, additionally, not necessarily replicable elsewhere. Those who are not able to disclose their health openly in real life and turn to the internet are multiplying. And shouldn’t those who rely on online anonymity be allowed to have it for as long as they choose?

Remember: if our online profiles blend together, each and every thing people do online will be on their Facebook pages or News Feeds. This could be chaotic –  if only because it would be so much content. Would we be able to even physically follow along with each other if we tried? Isn’t this is precisely why we diversify an use different profiles in the first place? We categorize our conversations to, not only, make room for them, but to also elaborate upon them, deepen them, and be thorough.

What do you think? What are the Pros and Cons here? What does your health community think of this topic?

CategoryHealth Disclosure, March, wego health | Comment1 Comment »

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January 26th, 2011

Best tweets from finish this tweet

by Amanda

A few days ago, we sent out a little Tweet prompt – the first of our “Finish This Tweet” project of 2011.  (Because not all prompts are the bloggy kind, right?)  We wanted to see the Health Activist Twitterverse take on their health in one word:

The answers from our Health Activists were both varied … and inspiring.  Here are some of our favorites:

@lisajcopen: My #health in one word is… [a] pilgrimage.

@Abeeliever: My #health in one word is… transforming.

@IndyHealer: RT @wegohealth: Finish this tweet! “My health in one word is constantly improving!

@sixuntilme: My health in one word is variable. Diabetes is unpredictable, even if I do the same thing…results may vary.

@diabetic_iz_me: My health in one word is wacko.

Thanks to everyone who joined in! We’ll have another “Finish This Tweet” for you and your follows soon  - so stay tuned.

Until then why not join our Twitter for Health Activism Group to jump in on some great discussions there? And be sure to add your handle to our ongoing list here!

CategoryTwitter | Comment1 Comment »

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January 5th, 2011

#My1Thing

by Amanda

If you were to share one thing about your condition – what would it be?

Inspired by Amy’s awesome Women’s Health discussion “One Thing” – we have a challenge for you to bring back to your communities and to your Twitter feeds.

Amy asked: “If you could share one thing, one morsel of women’s health wisdom, with the young women of our world what would it be?” The question inspired some pretty powerful responses and sparked an idea with a few of our Health Activists. What if everyone did this for their own health condition?

By starting with just one thing – you open the door to discussion. Often we write long posts delving into a whole list of “things” that we want to share about the condition, awareness, our goals, our thoughts, our pasts. It can be a lot to digest both to write and to read.

Take a step back. Meditate on this question. Like the mantra “aum” (or “om“) – start with one thing, pause, and really sit with it  and let it resonate for a minute.

Then go to Twitter (or Facebook) and type your one thing and add the hashtag #My1Thing and another hashtag that your health community uses to tweet about your condition. (Ex: #cancer or #womenshealth)

How did writing just one thing feel? Was it difficult? Was it a good exercise? Do you want to tweet another thing ? (Go for it! Tweet as many “1 thing(s)” as you want.)

The idea is to say one thing about your specific condition – but, because we will all be using the same hashtag, everyone’s contributions will collect across conditions. I think it will be a good way to bridge gaps between communities and raise awareness. Be sure to encourage your twitter friends to get involved and tweet their “one thing.” Even if you’re not yet a Health Activist but have been touched by a health condition – this is something you can participate in.

In a few weeks we’ll check back on this and see what people have tweeted. I encourage you to check out Janeen’s discussion for another take on the #My1Thing for the Food Allergy community.

photo credit: wacky_tom on flickr

Categoryfood allergy, health activists, Twitter, women's health | Comment3 Comments »

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