Logging on. Shout out to the D.O.C.!
I’ve been a diabetes blogger for over two years now, and truly every week I find another online outlet that I should probably be participating in to keep in blogger good graces. There’s Facebook, Twitter, Twitter chats, Linked In, tudiabetes. com, and about a zillion blogs I’d like to keep up with and comment on.
There’s also that little thing called “work” and its friend “having a life” that get in the way of me being a “good blogger” and keeping up with all the social media available. But man, if I could make that a full time job, I’d be all over it. Social media has changed the face of diabetes education and advocacy, not to mention hundreds of other diseases and other topics. Years ago, pre-D.O.C. (which is the diabetes online community in case ya didn’t know), it was really easy to feel like you’re the only person in the world dealing with diabetes. And although I think I will always have those moments with this disease, knowing that at any given time, there are literally thousands of people that I can connect with just by checking my Blackberry is an incredibly comforting feeling. And with diabetes, we often get the best management advice from crowdsourcing - that is asking the online community how they handle specific D-situations. There’s more information about controlling diabetes online than in every doctor’s office combined - no one knows the best tips and tricks better than the people who live this disease every day, and all those chats, comments and tweets add up to a pretty powerful resource.
So much of living well with diabetes is about having the support to do so. Having people there that can get you through the crappiest of BG days and yuckiest of lows. So although I don’t always have time to comment on every status update or get in on every Tweet-Up, knowing the D.O.C is just a click away gives me comfort around the clock. I’m so glad I dove into this community two years ago, and I love that it keeps growing every day.
Happy Friday folks! And a million thanks to all of you for being part of that online community that so many of us count on every day to give us the courage to battle onward. #dsma!! (That’s the twitter hashtag for “diabetes social media advocacy,” and if you don’t know what a hashtag is, that’s ok too! :))
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Well said, Alex!
The DOC is a very powerful community, and always there to offer advise. I’m often annoyed by the fact that there’s so little time to blog (seeing as my blog hasn’t been updated for more than 3 years - postgraduate studies, sigh!) and comment, but I know that the DOC is a very tolerant creature that will just appreciate those few times when I actually manage to contribute
I enjoy your blog very much when I manage to stop by!
Heidi