I wrote this last night so I wouldn’t forget about it, but this deserves more than 140 characters, so here we are.

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m starting to explore the diabetes community on Reddit because I want to understand how that corner of the Internet functions. For the most part I have a solid understanding of how each social platform can benefit a person with diabetes looking to connect with peers, share their story, and ultimately remember that they aren’t alone. I realize in doing this I will have dabbled in a number of areas, some more successful than others, but without coming to any grand conclusions about all of the time I’ve spent (wasted) talking about diabetes on the Internet.

But what if we could hand a newly diagnosed person with diabetes a little flyer that mapped out every place they could connect with other people with diabetes based on interest and Internet tendencies? Do you like long form text and aren’t afraid of terms like CSS and widget layout? WordPress or Blogger might be for you. Do you prefer to express yourself in quick bursts and like to follow lots of conversations at once? Try Twitter.

So we’re clear, I’m not saying every person with diabetes needs to be active online (although that would be a cool prospect). But if the time comes that the Internet is a useful tool in diabetes management (emotional, practical, whatever-ical), I think a quick reference guide would be nice; to help people find the place that they will get the most return for whatever the put in.

Social media has tremendous benefits in the world of diabetes management. Just ask our certified diabetes educators. (Go get ’em Cherise, Bennet and Kerri) Why not help point people in the most helpful direction?

via xkcd