john-norris.net

I’m not much for popularity contests, but it is critical to know just who and what is going on in one’s area.  For this reason, I installed some simple counters that report to me the number of different avatars per hour…but not their names…for the sake of privacy.
The Path of Support is a place to [...]

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I’m passionate about the use of online communites helping each other in the healthcare arena.  Below is a brief list of research I have done, and put up on the web, concerning community management:
Healthcare and Social Media Ideas and Tips.  @John_Norris
Twitter feed featuring daily tips on how healthcare orgs can use social networking.
“The Growth and [...]

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As a response to another post over at HIStalk that basically wondered if Healthcare 2.0 and social networking software will help healthcare in the future. I sent in a comment and was published:

From John: “Re: Web 2.0. Web 2.0 and social networking are already playing a role in healthcare. People are helping each other out, [...]

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As you wander a lonely virtual landscape, is anyone watching you?  Probably, if the land collect stats.  Should you be told?
As some may know, I maintain the Path of Support on Healthinfo Island in Second Life.* It features almost 100 posters of different support groups. The path includes groups  dealing with mental health conditions, chronic [...]

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So, after Lively, I’ve decided to take a look at other virtual worlds besides Second Life.
Abstract: IMVU is an avatar based instant messaging environment. It allows for participation of anyone from 13 years of age and older. There are well over 100 healthcare support groups in IMUV. Many are more informal [...]

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Folks are lamenting the demise of Google’s virtual world, Lively.  There are discussions on how it might have been better integrated with other Google offerings.  I’ll put in my two cents…which I had actually sent to Google as a Lively feature request.
Personal Health Records could be used to drive online healthcare support communities.  The PHR [...]

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Google is pulling the plug on their virtual world, Lively.  I jumped in early, was not impressed, and spent my time in Second Life instead.  However, lately I’ve been back and have been working on a room.  I’ve come to understand and appreciate a place Lively may have in the diverse mix of virtual worlds.  [...]

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Earlier this October I had the priviledge of being a panelist for the Stepping into Virtual Worlds Conference – Health.  It was a great time, especially having to summerize big parts of Second Life experience on the fly!  While I do reflect upon my time in virtual worlds, it is a good exercise to have [...]

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I informally gathered some data about Second Life and thought I’d share some findings.  I am in no way a statistician, and my data is not complete, so take this all with a grain of salt.

Towards the end of September I took the File Cabinet list from SLHealthy and collected all the health care support [...]

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If you run a healthcare support group online (be that a message board, forum, IRC,  etc…)  and are wondering about jumping into virtual worlds, I hope the following paper is helpful.
If you are running a face to face healthcare support group and wonder about doing so in a virtual world, this paper may also be [...]

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