It's been around 4 years since I became "active" in the online diabetes community. In 2017 I started watching and engaging with YouTubers before finding my way to some online forums. Eventually, I found Twitter and #GBDoc and that has remained my online diabetes go-to ever since. I've dipped my toe into Facebook but didn't really find the groups there to be friendly and moderated groups don't hold much appeal to me. I have an Instagram account, too. I enjoy some of the engagement on IG but I haven't really found the platform lends itself to peer support, personally.
Social media (Twitter especially) has been a huge, positive influence on my diabetes. Of course, as with any social aspect of life, there are instances when people you engage with are not friendly, are aggressive or simply don't like what you have to say. The more people you "meet" the more likely it is that you'll experience some form of negativity. And so it is on Twitter. I'm fine with that. Only a few days ago, I checked the list of blocked accounts on my account. There were over 40 but the vast majority were simply spam bots. A few people replied to my tweet with their blocked numbers and some ran into several hundred. I felt things have gone pretty well for me in that regard!
My train of thought led me think of the people I have engaged with. The names from the early days who are seemingly no longer around, the ones who have been there since day one and the new ones, hopefully good friends of the future.
My mind also wandered to the popular accounts, the frequently heard voices. That brought about thoughts of the opportunities and assumed authority granted to some of those voices. We've been here before, haven't we? I've certainly engaged in such discussion on Twitter. I may have even started some of that discussion!
While the frequent speakers and brand ambassadors might dislike what I have to say next, please realise this; I've spoken about diabetes, I've represented two brands and I've accepted paid advertisements on my tweets. I've also turned down conference involvement and a third brand representation. Why? Because I'm a firm believer in a community voice being the voices of many and not a frequently selected few. Who and what I choose to represent is very much driven by that. Also, don't forget that I'm a straight, middle aged, white man.
We're stuck with the online variety of conferences and webinars, right now. It may continue in this way for a good chunk of 2021 or beyond, until we get the virus under control. I've been excited to see new conferences and webinars pop up in the last 12 months and remain excited at the prospect of more in the coming year. However, almost without exception, I've been disappointed at the names listed as speakers and, to some extent, the subject matter. I'm not disappointed at the quality of speaker or what they personally might have to say. I'm disappointed that it's the same names time and again.
The argument might be that people simply don't volunteer to speak at conferences. That is true but I believe there are two good reasons for that and easy solutions:
- Firstly, speaking opportunities are never widely advertised. I cannot remember seeing a single tweet, post or mailing list email which asks for volunteers to speak. So, advertise!
- Secondly, the majority of people who might be interested in speaking will not volunteer themselves openly. I know this from 2 years of finding hosts for the #GBDoc Tweetchat. YET! when asked directly, nearly everybody showed an interest in hosting. It might be a British thing. In general, I think people don't want to come across as "The Big I Am". So I often ask directly and the responses are far more favourable.
Why is this important? I think we need to hear the voices of many to get a broader range of views and experiences. I think we need to allow attendees to gain inspiration from all types of people from all backgrounds, not just who the organisers think are "inspirational". I think skin colours need to be varied. I think accents need to be varied. I think disability needs to be represented and I'm not just referring to diabetes! I want to hear the stories and experiences of people I've never heard speak before. I want to hear from professionals that I've never heard speak before. Those people and no doubt others, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community need to be heard. They are a broad representation of the diabetes community (online and off)
Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!
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