The Forum's future - your thoughts please!

[Northerner]

I'm meeting Diabetes UK in a few days to discuss ways we can improve the forum and provide help and support to more people. As someone mentioned on another thread, although we are generally very busy and increasing the membership daily, we are still only scratching the surface of the huge number of people who might benefit. I have some thoughts of my own, but would like to hear what others think 🙂

How can we better promote the forum?

What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Many thanks! 🙂

 

[FM001]

A regular mention in Balance would be a start, they could also get local branch meetings of DUK to hand out leaflets promoting the forum.

Strengths is obviously the overwhelming support we provide, weakness I can't think of any for now but will have a think and come back later🙂

 

[vince13]

Some time ago Admin produced a poster which it was hoped could be offered by us to our own Drs' surgeries/hospital diabetes clinics to display letting people know we are here for "support". Can we try this again do you think ?

One point that strikes me - and I don't know what can be done about it - it does sometimes seem that the regular contributors are a "clique" who appear to chat amongst themselves and I can imagine that a timid newbie might feel "not one of us". (I am prepared to be shot down on this one, of course !).

Wider publicity would help but, apart from the excellent suggestion regarding "Balance", I don't know where this could be.

 

[Adrienne]

One point that strikes me - and I don't know what can be done about it - it does sometimes seem that the regular contributors are a "clique" who appear to chat amongst themselves and I can imagine that a timid newbie might feel "not one of us". (I am prepared to be shot down on this one, of course !).

The trouble with that is that you get there everywhere and it cannot be stopped. There is nothing wrong with it mind you. I think the word clique has become used too frequently in the wrong way over time (by the way this is not a dig at you at all, this is just my general view).

The way I look at it is, is that this is also a place where friendships have been formed and those friendships take place here on the forum and that is a ok as far as I can see. It certainly isn't a nasty 'clique' or group, everyone is always welcomed with enthusiasim (sp?) so I can't personally see anything wrong with that.

If new people are that desperate they won't even see this, they will just post wanting help or support.

That is purely just my view though. 🙂

 

[Northerner]

...One point that strikes me - and I don't know what can be done about it - it does sometimes seem that the regular contributors are a "clique" who appear to chat amongst themselves and I can imagine that a timid newbie might feel "not one of us". (I am prepared to be shot down on this one, of course !)....

This is something I worry about, but I do hope that it is not widely perceived and that new members are quickly made to feel welcome and supported. I think it is important that there is a core of active posters (who may change over time, as they do) who have good knowledge of the forum's resources, and also make it an interesting, stimulating and fun place to visit - whether for diabetes-related queries or otherwise.

It's a difficult line to walk really. We need the forum to be busy, with lots of stuff to pick and choose from and respond where you feel able. Whilst I have heard criticism in the past that some of the non-diabetes related posts 'clutter' the place up, I think this can give a more social appearance to the forum, making people more like ordinary friends with a related problem, rather than just focusing on the medical issues and problems. I have seen at our forum meets how people very quickly are put at their ease, and the enthusiasm for attending future meets is always very gratifying. Also, the meets, as with the forum, are a place where people can feel comfortable with their diabetes amongst friends who will not judge them.

I know that there are many people who register and read regularly but rarely post - in fact some have never posted, but still visit perhaps because diabetes can be isolating and just being 'in the company' of people can alleviate some of the day-to-day stresses.

I think that the notion of a clique only really arises if new posters are excluded from discussion or have their threads hijacked, or responses to their posts rely on in-jokes and background knowledge and I have seen little evidence of that in the past. It is difficult to please all of the people all of the time, and I hope that those who visit and do not feel they fit in here for whatever reasons find other resources that will help - there are many different 'flavour' forums out there 🙂

 

[cherrypie]

Don't know about the promotion aspect although Vince's suggestion of a poster is a good idea especially with the DUK logo on it. Most surgeries would accept that.

I have made nearly 500 posts and I still feel like an outsider so there is deffo something in that. I can understand that others here will not see this.) I did stop posting early on because I felt ignored but came back again as I felt I had something to offer for newly diagnosed.

I think a welcome pack in layman's terms would be a good idea rather than providing links to other websites. Thinking back to when I was diagnosed as Type2, it was all double dutch to me. This could include explaining about the role of carbs in diet, NICE guidelines for blood sugars, why it is necessary to be able to test, sick day rules, exercise, 15 point checklist for care, etc..........We know what it all means but I certainly didn't earlier. A test meter is a little machine in a box, how do you use it and what will it tell me??????? It is second nature to us but we have to think how a newbie would view it. If it is all there in everyday language as a sticky then anyone can direct a newbie to it. (I can only speak for Type2's).

 

[Mark T]

How about:

Strength?s

- Welcoming and friendly. A wide range of people with experiences to share
- Well moderated; little spam occurs and I?ve not seem any (real) flame wars breaking out
- There is almost always activity on the forum ? it?s not a sleeping forum that has no little or no activity for hours or days


Weaknesses

- Yes it can feel cliquey sometimes. In reality this isn?t the case. But having not really met each other, the social threads can be more difficult to get into.
- Limitations of forum based chat vs. more immediate IM/IRC type chat
- Sometimes the volume of posts can get overwhelming ? especially if you take a day or two off the board
- Limitations of saving information for future reference in a forum vs usage of a wiki

 

[robert@fm]

One strength which I feel this forum has is that there's usually a forum meet somewhere coming up within the next three months. 🙂 And everyone is invited, so this is a great way of dispelling the "clique" feeling (provided that members can / want to attend).

Also, I think that having an "Off Topic" area where general subjects can be discussed is an important part of any forum; certainly it vastly improved the EmailDiscussions forum ten years ago when, after three years of only discussing email-related topics, such an area was added. Having such an area prevents such posts from clogging up the more specific forums.

 

[Northerner]

...I have made nearly 500 posts and I still feel like an outsider so there is deffo something in that. I can understand that others here will not see this.) I did stop posting early on because I felt ignored but came back again as I felt I had something to offer for newly diagnosed...

Hi cherrypie, I know we have discussed this in the past, but I can assure you, you are certainly not an 'outsider' here, your posts are very much appreciated by myself and many others. Perhaps if you were able to attend one of the meets one day you would realise how welcome a part of the forum you really are - I know from experience that many people in the past have changed their views after putting faces to names 🙂

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I'm meeting Diabetes UK in a few days to discuss ways we can improve the forum and provide help and support to more people. As someone mentioned on another thread, although we are generally very busy and increasing the membership daily, we are still only scratching the surface of the huge number of people who might benefit. I have some thoughts of my own, but would like to hear what others think 🙂

How can we better promote the forum?

What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Many thanks! 🙂

Promotion needs to be taken up by DUK (Balance, road shows, posters.

Would a chat room be feasible?

Can the forum be made more parent friendly? I find it odd welcoming new parents in one sentence then telling them to shove off to xxx forum.

 

[Copepod]

I must admit, that I still feel like an outsider on occasions, particularly in run up to and soon after meet ups, when photos appear, or when discussions allude to threads on facebook, without actually stating which ones.

This is mainly because I can't get to weekend meets, due to working most weekends, although I'm free on some weekdays, and once managed to meet a (now ex) fellow moderator when they visited my home town for their work.

However, I have encouraged people I know with diabetes (sometimes hear about diagnois through social media eg Facebook, or from friends / relatives who put newly diagnosed person in touch with me) to join the board - some have taken up my suggestion others haven't, but perhaps they look, but I don't know.

I know that some of my posts have been known to go off track a bit, usually towards the fields of adventure racing / orienteering / mountain marathons / geocaching etc or growing vegs and keeping ducks in our garden - however, exercise and food are both very important in life with diabetes, and if you've never heard of orienteering or geocaching, for example, you couldn't find them with a search engine, and if you have heard of them, you might not know abour the range covered by the term.

So, definitely agree about more publicity - mention in EVERY issue of Balance, prominent link from Diabetes UK website, posters in all hospital diabetes clinics & all GP clinics (as many people with type 2 get all their care in primary care) etc. As well as continuing to welcome newbies in Newbies section, we all also need to make a particular effort to welcome relatively new posters, wherever they post.

 

[macast]

can I just say that when I first joined this forum this time last year I never felt that it was cliquey........... and everyone was very friendly and helpful. I don't know how I would have coped the the news that I had diabetes without you all. I am sooooo glad I found you 🙂

now.... enough of the mushy stuff LOL

as to promoting the forum....... diabetes uk promotes itself on Facebook..... what about using FB to show the world that we are here?

 

[David H]

Diabetes uk promotes itself on Face book..... what about using FB to show the world that we are here?

A lot of people on this forum have shown their dislike for Face book, I personally have several accounts each set up for different reasons, 2 personal accounts, 1 for jokes, 1 for Virtual Videos, 1 for Coeliac content and one for holiday cottages.

Face book can be setup as a business account: (ie)

you don't get personal data update from friends appearing,
posts are by admin or by approved friends,

It keeps the account on topic without spam (hopefully) it's easy to bar or block e-mail or IP addresses.

Face book can get the word out there, If friends share posts to their walls and ask their friends to do likewise the exposure is limited only by their enthusiasm to promote the page.

 

[ypauly]

There isn't alot wrong with the site from what I can see. It seem to be growing nicely and I am almost sure more people are hanging around after registration. Though it would take a mod to know this. i.e for every 10 new members 1 reaches 100 posts typr of equation.

It's main strenght is we dont have to negotiate a miriad of forums and sub forums (some sites have thousands)

Publicity wise why dont we all change our facebook pictures and status's for one week and see if new registrations increase. But do it at the same time using the same phrase.


Forgot to add a weakness. Very quiet in the night. sometimes (only occasionally)I read on my phone at work and notice there is a new member with a plea for help (possibly cant sleep) but as I am at work I couldn't reply. I sometimes look in the daytime for them but they dont always return.


And the posters are a great idea.

 

[Dizzydi]

We definitely could do with a poster that we could ask our GP's and hospital to put up and get them to tell newly diagnosed.

My GP pointed me in the direction of diabetes uk when I was first diagnosed.

We could all do our own self promoting as well.

Could we do a fun run or walk to raise money ourselves to help pay for promotional materials ?? backed by diabetes uk ?

 

[Robster65]

I agree that DUK could take a more active role in promotion. As long as it doesn't swamp us with new registrations. 😱

One of the most important things for a new member is to be acknowledged quickly, preferably with some useful info and/or links so they can see how friendly and knowledgeable we are. This happens 99 times out of a hundred.

Like others, we try to pass word about to anywhere that might be interested but few seem to take it up. Again, DUK would carry more clout and should see us as a valuable resource that they could make good use of (even if we slag them off aplenty 🙄).

Other than that, a salary of ?20k for all the mods would improve it no end I feel

Rob

 

[AlisonM]

I think one of our best selling points and greatest strengths is the inclusivity of this forum when compared to others. It doesn't matter what Type you are. And the fact that we are all about "support" is key.

A more prominent position on the DUK frint page. Would be good and the occasional advert in Balance too. I'd like to see that.

 

[Monica]

An ad in Balance would be the best. Sorry, I have no better ideas 😱

Hmmm, about the "clique"-ness here. I think all newbies will feel like an outsider at the start. I certainly did. On top of it all there were rows going on too, but I stuck to it - and I'm glad I did.

 

[ukjohn]

I can't swear to it but having joined this group in October 2008 I think that I am the longest serving active member here. During that time I have experienced many high and lows in the forum, and also felt like leaving many times, but I have to admit there isn't a diabetes site or forum anywhere that can compete with this one, there is so much friendship and help available here and is well led by Northerner. I would urge all members that if you get a chance, go along to one of the meets, I have been to two small ones and enjoyed them, it brought me closer to the forum. For those that asked about posters,I believe they are or were available under downloads at the top of the page.

We do need Diabetes uk to advertise the group a little more.

I also think it would help if we had a chatroom, this may then get rid of the feelings of a clique which I think may come about because of a few people holding a conversation on the message boards, which is the only option available to them.

One other thing I would mention, and I have started to learn this....

"You can only expect to get back what your prepared to put in"

Best wishes
John.

 

[lizabetic]

Twitter is probably a really powerful tool for promotion of the forum. I know D-UK have one, so should their forum!

Also, perhaps the general discussion forum could simply be moved up? I always ignore it because its not right there on my page!

Something I think most forums have which I do not think you should do is split T1, T1.5, T2! I don't think this works, its much more interesting to have views from everyone not just those that share your type. Plus there'd only be about three of us in a T1.5 😛