Should we measure social media in dog years? and other 2013 reflections

Should we measure social media in dog years? and other 2013 reflections

by | Dec 22, 2013 | mental health, NHS stuff, social media | 2 comments

Social media years are like dog years – one minute you’re a newbie stumbling about creating a mess on the carpet and a year later you’re a well-trained poodle who would never accidentally send a personal tweet from the corporate account, or inadvertently use a #hashtag which has already been claimed for a rather more indecent cause than the one you intended (ok so I have committed both of those crimes in 2013 despite being on Twitter for at least almost a quarter of a decade in social years). A dose of drama We had a good dose of drama in 2013: the social media thunderstorm that got Asda’s mental patient costume in to the headline news illustrated how ordinary people can use Twitter to challenge powerful corporations; @teaandtalking showed us how to challenge mental health stigma when she live tweeted her experience of being an inpatient on a mental health ward; and @amanda_stand showed how Twitter can be a powerful means of talking back to and with the mental health profession with her hashtag #DearMentalHealthProfessionals. I was sad to see The World of Mentalists come to an end – a consequence of shifts in conversations happening across social media platforms: Previously the main focus of conversation was on blogs. People still use blogs, probably more so than ever in fact, but the conversations are more complex and multi-platform, using not just blogs but also Twitter, Facebook, Storify etc. If the conversations have a focus, then it’s mostly on Twitter rather than on blogs. In this evolving way of speaking to one another, I’m not so sure a weekly...
#AboutMeLeeds – 3 lessons in digital participation

#AboutMeLeeds – 3 lessons in digital participation

by | Dec 15, 2013 | #AboutMeLeeds | 0 comments

Do social networking spaces afford opportunities for people accessing health and social care services, citizens and public sector organisations to have conversations about important topics that affect all of us? This was the question we tested out in #AboutMeLeeds which took place during the Leeds Digital Festival and which was supported by local NHS organisations and the council, NHS Employers, NHS Confederation and NHS England. We partnered with Leeds Data Thing to experiment with a social conversation which we hoped might help shape the use of data in our city. You can find out a bit more about what we hoped to achieve here. Leeds Data Thing have posted the results of #AboutMeLeeds with some intriguing insights, such as the fact that most people want access to their health records, but comparatively few have ever done so, and that many have concerns about security of their data. Whilst the results are valuable – I am equally interested in how #AboutMeLeeds worked as a social conversation and the extent to which it proved an effective means of involving citizens in Leeds. What we found is that we have a strongly connected and active health and social care community in Leeds (people accessing and working in services) on blogging platforms and on Twitter. We enjoy talking to each other. A lot! But it also showed that when it came to #AboutMeLeeds, we didn’t permeate out much beyond ourselves to other networks. The citizens of Leeds pretty much let us get on with our chat and got on with other things. Now this gives us some invaluable lessons that we can apply to future...