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...
#DigitalMH13 live blog – 20 June 2013

#DigitalMH13 live blog – 20 June 2013

by | Jun 20, 2013 | mental health, social media | 2 comments

Below is a live blog of our Digital Innovation in Health event. You can find a storify of all the #DigitalMH13 tweets here. You can find analytics of our Twitter reach via Symplur here. 4.00 – event drawing to an end – do check out #DigitalMH13 to see the conversations on Twitter 🙂 2.45 – Mike summing up the day and reminding us we are each responsible for taking learning away, as well as building on ideas and relationships we have generated. Victoria thanks everyone for coming along and asks people to give feedback to help thinking about future events – if we should have them and, if so, how they would work best. Charlie tells the group he is planning to continue conversations on his Digital First LinkedIn group. Now time for more chatting and networking…       2.25 – lots of fascinating conversations have been taking place and now time to pull everyone together to look at the gallery of illustrations / records before we get to the informal part of the day where people decide if/what/how they want to take things forward. 1.20 – conversations for this afternoon agreed and the themes are… (1) peer support training and development for digital (2) process of doing a digital project (3) does the NHS get it? (4) disruption of professional boundaries (5) digital innovation globally (6) big data (7) social media, technology and social exclusion (8) telehealth.  1.00 – back from lunch and negotiating the next set of conversations for the afternoon.               12.00 – coming back together for a gallery walk of an illustrated...