Online Communities!

[jadeanderson]

Hi

My name is Jade Anderson and I'm a TV Production 2nd Year Student from Westminster University and was wondering if anyone could help me? I'm doing an essay about Online Communities just like this one and would like to know if you benefit from talking to the Online Community about Diabetes etc, does it help you? Are you glad you have this website for support? Has it benefitted your social life? Have you made any friends? Have you met up with them in real life?

Please help me ASAP!

Thanks

Jade Anderson

 

[shiv]

Hi Jade

- yes, I hugely benefit from talking to the diabetes community. It helps me stay motivated, and helps with the emotional side of living with a chronic condition such as type 1.
- yes, I am very grateful for it!
- we regularly have meet ups (please see the Events section) in various locations so yes my social life has benefitted from the site
- I've made LOADS of friends from this site! Life long friends at that.
- as I mentioned before we have regular meet ups so yes, I have met lots of members of the forum in real life. My partner and I met on this site.

 

[Caroline]

Hi Jade,

yes I have benefitted from this community. In helping others I have also been able to help myself, and I have been able to ask for help too.

I get information more quickly from here than I do from my doctor and if I need to talk, there is always someone with an snwer and support. A huge added bonus is there are lots of other people like me and I am happy to call them friends.

 

[rossi_mac]

yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.

This place rocks!😉

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

The sense of support, shared experience and the ability to ask questions in a place like this is incredibly valuable. Even if it's just to let off steam and rage once in a while!

It's also a very useful way of keeping up with developments in diabetes care across the country (and in other online communities, across the world). Different people's experience of care can vary widely and communities like this one are a great place to check advice and suggestions and experience that seem just plain wrong, slightly odd or outstandingly helpful.

Every individual's experience of diabetes will require subtly different approaches to treatment and solutions to nitty-gritty problems. What works for one will not necessarily work for another. The advice given by your GP/clinic may be perfect for someone else, but a disaster for you. Coming into contact with the widest variety of ideas and approaches really helps.

Long live the hive mind 🙂

 

[Robster65]

Hi Jade.

Absolutley transformation in my care after reading past posts and getting advice and encouragement from othe rmembers.

The first real opportunity in 32 years of speaking to other diabetics about control and different regimes.

Not met any other members but do have some social interaction via the board and twitter.

Getting to know online personas helps to gauge who can help best with particular queries and who I can confidently offer advice to.

Good luck with it.

Rob

 

[AlisonM]

This place has been a life saver for me, I've had so much support and useful information from the inhabitants in the year since I was diagnosed. If you have a problem, there's always someone in here who has had a similar experience and can suggest a solution. One thing I especially like about this forum as opposed to others is that there is no divide between the various types of diabetic, we all muck in together. We have all kinds of diabetics and carers of diabetics so the range of knowledge and experience available is vast. It's a great resource for anyone who wants information, or ideas on how to approach their medical team and what questions they should be asking. Like any chronic medical condition diabetes can be very scary and often baffling, especially in the early days, there is so much conflicting data out there and having people who know first hand what it's like to live with the disease is priceless.

I have made some really good online friends here, but haven't managed to make it to a meeting yet. Living in the far frozen north makes that difficult when financial resources are limited. One of these days though.