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    Twitter Chat Canada

    Hello,

    I'm totally new to this forum.

    This message is a follow up to a discussion started on twitter between myself (@mentalhealthpro) and @mooddisordersca this week on twitter.

    I am a big fan of twitter and twitter chats and I'm hoping to engage @mooddisordersca and others on twitter to form a twitter chat for mental health in Canada. Chats are simply times where a bunch of people get together on twitter and tweet about a given topic. If you're on twitter, you probably are familiar with them. I think you could participate through facebook as well, someone more familiar with social media might be able to clarify this. I only use twitter for chats.

    A favorite of mine is the Mental Health and Social Media chat. You can learn more abouth mhsmchat here: http://mhsmchat.blogspot.com/2010/02/our-debut.html

    I've noticed @mooddisordersca has been asking lots of questions on twitter, here are some recent examples:

    Do you face more difficulties handling your Mental Illness when you are tired?

    For those reaching out for help, who do you feel confortable talking to?

    What do you do when you have a bad day? Hide or reach out for help?

    Does staying busy help you overcome the bad moments caused by your Mental Illness?

    Looking forward for sunny days? How did this winter impact you mood?

    What advice would you give to people that just discovered their Mental Illness?

    What advice would you give to people that have someone close suffering from a Mental Illness? What are some good ways to show their support?

    Why do you think some people are ashamed to discuss their Mental Illness?

    Does lack of sleep influence your moods?"
    I may be a little optimistic, but I think there are only a few things that would need to happen to turn these questions into an effective twitter chat.
    1. Decide on a specific time to post Q&As and duration (1 hour is good.)
    2. Decide on a #hashtag to use to identify the chat on twitter.
    3. Generate some interest and get ppl to engage in the chat.


    The first two items are easy. The last one might be a bit challenging. I don't think there's the need to rush into anything. If you are interested you can check out @MHSMchat at 9pm EST on Tuesdays.

    @voiceinrecovery is debuting a recovery chat this Monday at 9pm EST.

    It would be awesome to plan at least a few chats for Canada. I think you, @mooddisordersca, are the person/account to help facilitate the process. I'm hopeful there are other people here who are using twitter (or considering using twitter) and might be interested in this too.

    Thanks @mooddisordersca for all your questions on twitter.

    #2
    Hello Twitter Chat Canada. The idea you've brought up sounds very interesting. Unfortunately, I don't use Twitter myself, or really understand how it works. If anybody else here knows about this kind of stuff, I wouldn't mind learning more...
    Last edited by uni; March 6, 2011, 04:52 AM.
    uni

    ~ it's always worth it ~

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      #3
      Sounds interesting. I think I have a Twitter account but i have never used it. All the questions you copied from twitter by mood disorders also appeared on Facebook. It is one of the ways I found this forum.
      My one concern about hosting a chat on a social media site is lack of anonymity. One of the pluses of this site is the fact that we are user names and can share as much or as little as we want. On facebook/twitter our personal information is open to everyone involved in the chat.
      Can Mooddisorders somehow facilitate something like that on the existing forum?
      Nightowl
      "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." -John Lennon-

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        #4
        Hello Nightowl69. I may be a bit thick tonight, but I am unsure of what you are requesting. Could you elaborate a little and I can try and get you an answer. Take Care. paul m
        "Alone we can do so little;
        Together we can do so much"
        Helen Keller

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          #5
          Mentalhealthpro is proposing a chat group with like minded individuals (such as the members on this forum on twitter. I think it is a good idea however I don't like the idea of using a social media, facebook/twitter/other social sites. Part of the attraction for me coming here, is the condition of anonomity. By using twitter/facebook, everyone in the chat will be able to find out some personal information, including real names. And personally, that fact would be the reason I would not attend, despite any benefit it would provide.
          If there was a way to have an open discussion on this forum, I think it could be beneficial. I still don't think I am explaining it very well. I see it in my head but I'm having trouble expressing it. Try thinking of instant messengers; you can have a real conversation with another person in real time over the internet. So I guess what I am suggesting is a chat room with an agenda. For instance, you could say you're doing somethin on depression. You would post the time and place so members are aware. Once everyone is there, you could then start. People can post their comments in real time. Sort of like a conference call but on the internet.
          If you are still confused it's probably me not saying it right. After all, its 340am and my brain is fried today
          Nightowl
          "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." -John Lennon-

          Comment


            #6
            Hello Nightowl69. Ok I think that I have it now. Your points certainly do have merit, but the following is how I see it. There are two parts to my answer. The first part is it possible to set up a chat line within the confines of the forum? Probably, although I would have to double ck that with Woody who is our technical guru.

            My own thoughts on the matter are that it wouldn't work as we do not have enough members to make it work and not enough volunteers to see that it works.

            I have only seen two examples of a on line forum instant messenger or chat room that had people with serious mental illnesses taking part. Both are very heavily moderated. (there certainly may be some that are unmoderated )

            I can only guess about the reasons needed for the moderators. I facilitate an in person support group and people come to it because they feel safe and to feel better. Some nights it can be a real challenge to keep it that way and there are times when an individual has to be asked to take a break as people with a mental illness sometimes do get out of control. A person may be paranoid and accuse others of making their illness worse or just start arguments and fights or they may be depressed and announce that they are going to kill themselves later that evening and just want to say good bye to everybody.

            Neither of the above makes anybody feel good nor go home happy and feeling better about themselves. With an unmoderated chat room, I suspect that this could be a problem. Good Question though. Take Care. paul m

            P.S. I am not a computer wizard, but would it not be possible to send a private message to someone through this forum and ask if they would like to instant messenger back and forth?
            "Alone we can do so little;
            Together we can do so much"
            Helen Keller

            Comment


              #7
              I remember this being discussed in the past, but unfortunately I cannot remember where.
              there was a reason that live discussions could not be done on this forum, but again... my brain being swiss cheese, I forget why.

              Woody would be the best one to explain why for sure!

              Woooooooodyyyyyyyyyy.... help!!
              Anne.

              Comment


                #8
                I sent an inquiry to Woody. I can't remember the details either.
                AJ

                Humans punish themselves endlessly
                for not being what they believe they should be.
                -Don Miguel Ruiz-

                Comment


                  #9
                  ]Member have the option of putting on their profile there ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and Skype identities.

                  Members can only private message other members if there private messaging is on. What member do beyond that is beyond our scope.

                  My limited understanding is Twitter and Facebook is that you can post messages which is similar to what we do here, but under a different format. My limited understanding is that there is the option for automatic notification of new messages. We also offer that option via either E-Mail or RSS feed.

                  There is no live chat option. If someone wanted to take the imitative and setup a live chat room on the many IRC chat servers available. Again beyond our scope.

                  Hope this helps
                  Woody

                  Comment


                    #10
                    nightowl69, I can see your point about wanting anonymity. It is a good reminder for me. I like to keep my Facebook and Twitter accounts separate. Relative anonymity is possible. On twitter you can simply create a separate account. People should be aware that even if they do not reveal their personal identity, their identity can be obtained just from their online behaviour. This is/was most evident in the infamous AOL data search scandal Twitter, and forums are very vulnerable to these issues. Nevertheless, if you're careful and vigilant you can essentially eliminate these concerns.

                    As for moderating, I would trust and have faith in individuals. Chats happen all the time on twitter. A moderator can state guidelines, but no one can be restricted from saying something on twitter. Right now, @mooddisordersca is asking questions on twitter. Anyone can respond in any way they want. I would simply suggest the questions and answers happen in real time at a set time. This would be a tremendous opportunity to promote the agenda (mental health promotion) of stakeholders who use social media (us). There has recently been mention of a survey that Mood Disorders Society will be posting soon. Having a chat about the survey will definitely generate publicity and interest in the survey.

                    More about chats on twitter from psychcentral.com

                    A chat about health centres in canada (I hope to attend soon, but have not attended yet): http://www.cachca.ca/resources/twitterchat.html
                    Last edited by mentalhealthpro; March 23, 2011, 06:14 PM. Reason: grammar

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