A novel way of conveying the essence of social media on the stage

A novel way of conveying the essence of social media on the stage

by | Apr 6, 2014 | mental health, NHS stuff | 6 comments

For me social media is mostly about learning, sharing and making connections. The participatory and personal nature of discussion on platforms such as Twitter is the antithesis to traditional broadcast communications, and it is this subtle shift that can often be so challenging for institutions. I’ve been wondering how to convey this change in a more meaningful way when speaking at events and conferences – the traditional lecture format not only feels more in the broadcast tradition, it also infers expert knowledge on the presenter, when in the world of social media it seems to me that we are all on a journey of discovery. So when Sue Sibbald aka @BPDFFS and I agreed to speak about social media and mental health recovery at the recent CPA Association conference, we thought we’d try a different way of sharing our thoughts and experiences.  We wanted to convey some of the essence of the discursive quality that platforms like Twitter afford, not just through what we said, but also how we said it. We decided to ditch the Prezi and employ a conversational format – that is, a conversation that would take place in public and on the stage. Whilst we agreed the questions we would ask each other beforehand (to make sure our dialogue flowed) we deliberately didn’t share our responses so that we would be spontaneous in the moment, develop points during our discussion, and perhaps engage in a bit of banter. In taking this approach, our plan was to illuminate the interactive and emergent nature of dialogue in social media spaces; to show how it is both personal...
The rise of the #chat

The rise of the #chat

by | Jan 29, 2013 | mental health | 10 comments

I’m absolutely delighted that Sue Sibbald @BPDFFS has produced this guest post on #tweetchats for my blog. Hope you enjoy and do let Sue know what you think: The #chat has become a popular feature on Twitter, with many people taking part. I co-run a chat on Twitter called #BPDChat with @amanda_stand, which was launched in April 2012 for people with a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder. Each week we have a topic which people discuss for an hour, for example’ the positives of #BPD’ and’ self esteem and what helps to improve it’. I also take part in other chats such as # MHChat , and occasionally on #NURChat, #OTchat and #nhssm. Some may say I’m a bit of a chat addict? Whilst participating and running my own chat I started wondering about the reasons people love to join in these #chats – so here are a few thoughts, which I’m sure people could add to… So what is the purpose of a chat and why do people decide to set them up? It can be quite a bit of work organising one and it’s not very well paid…. hmm volunteering again. To be brutally honest when #BPDChat was originally set up by @broken_mind and me last year its sole purpose was to simply provide a space for people to come together at the same time and chat. The idea came at about 11am and the chat took place later that night. It trended on Twitter – I often wondered who was taking part as it was a bit of a blur to be honest. Peers talking together...