Social Networking Sites and Diabetes: When You are Online, You are Not Alone - By: Catherine Albertson

With this new generation of online users, the advent of numerous social networking sites has begun to appear. More specifically, there are now several social networking sites that provide a forum through which people who are affected by diabetes can communicate.

There are a number of social networking platforms such as TuDiabetes and diabetesfriends.net that are online communities specifically for those with diabetes. In the past, many young people may have felt alone or abandoned by their friends and family who didn’t know how to deal with their condition. Now, you can quickly and easily customize a profile and begin networking with thousands of people your age, who share your thoughts and feelings on diabetes. Within these sites, there are groups to join, forums for discussion, videos, photos, events, and the list goes on and on. With such a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, it’s refreshing to see that such an active interest has been taken to aid those with diabetes. It’s natural and easy to let your condition gradually take hold of you and alter your life, but with the overwhelming amount of support that exists, it might not be as hard to conquer that battle.

Social networking sites are making a dramatic impact when it comes to diabetes. Twitter is a micro blogging site thriving with a large population of people with diabetes. There are over 50-100 company accounts on Twitter with the sole purpose of discussing diabetes and promoting information on the subject. A simple search in the “find people” section of Twitter provides some prime examples: “DiabetesSupport,” Diabetescure,” “Diabcoa,” and “Twitterbetics.” These individuals provide information and advice for those with the condition, and act as a gateway for people with diabetes to communicate and “follow” one another. Besides the list of information gatekeepers, there’s an overwhelming prevalence of people who talk about having diabetes in their bio section. On Twitter, people can support one another with compassion and understanding. A simple tweet about being down after a doctor’s appointment can spur several friends and followers to reply with a positive and heartfelt message. Or a question about insulin injection devices could send numerous suggestions you may not have had the time to research your way, all with personalized and firsthand experience on the subject. Social networking sites have become a great place to show people with diabetes that they are not alone, and that the scale of people with similar thoughts, questions, and hardships are ever-growing.

The internet may seem like an impersonal way to communicate about such a serious topic, but the growing presence of sites specific to people living with diabetes with thousands of users seems to oppose that theory. Just knowing that someone out there is making a profile to discuss their feelings on diabetes or tweeting about the exact same hardships you encounter on a daily basis is what makes these social networking sites so exceptional. Every day hardships in life occur in real time, so why shouldn’t help and compassion as well?

The internet has long been a place to communicate ideas, information, thoughts, etc. It serves as a portal through which anyone can talk about an infinite number of topics. As the internet continues to grow, the information within has become more and more categorized.

Catherine is the Senior Manager for Marketing at Patton Medical Devices, the manufacturer for the i-port® Injection Port. Employed since 2006, Catherine has been actively involved in the development of the i-port® branding, website development, event production and overall marketing operations for Patton Medical Devices. Her prior experience includes working for GSD&M and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.