Microsoft has baked a lot of social media goodies into the latest iteration of SharePoint (2010). While the spot light has been on My Sites, I took a quick look at the venerable Discussion Board.
While at first glance it lags behind some more fully featured online forum software, and many 3rd party extensions have tried to fill that gap, out-of-the-box there’s a lot to like. There is also much to build upon. Here’s 5 things that struck me almost immediately:
I like to organize things. I also need a place to record and refer to things throughout the day. Back in the corporate world I used carry cut up pieces of blank paper clipped together in my back pocket. I kept my to-do’s, ideas, etc on them.
In June of 2005, with a kick-start from 43 folders and Douglas Johnson, I published my 1st Hipster Stack. I’d get a kick out of what others can do with this, so I am releasing it under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license. (Do be careful with attributing some of the other folk’s content I’ve included.)
I’m passionate about the use of online communities, with people helping each other in the area of healthcare. Below is a list of some of the research I have done, and put up on the web, concerning healthcare community management:
365 Tweets for Healthcare Orgs
365 microblogging suggestions for local healthcare organizations. Plus my slideshare on the same topic, “@mayoclinic has good info, why should I listen to you?”
“The Growth and Direction of Healthcare Support Groups in Virtual Worlds” Vol 2, No 2: 3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare http://jvwresearch.org
Peer reviewed paper comparing healthcare support groups in Second Life, Twinity, Kaneva, and There.
Introduction to virtual world group tools for online healthcare support groups.
For those who already run online support, but are interested in the opportunities/difficulties virtual worlds hold. Not an introduction to virtual worlds, but the tools and issues surrounding groups. Second Life is used as an example.
Statistics for Second Life Healthcare Support Groups.
A snapshot of 150 groups in Second Life. Looking at types of issues, membership numbers, and analysis. Comparison to real life support group communities.
Statistics for IMVU Healthcare Support Groups.
A snapshop of over 100 groups in the virtual world of IMVU. Similar data and analysis as the Second Life paper. Additional data and analysis surrounding the creation rates of groups.
Systems that identify ‘experts’ in online communities.
Overview of many healthcare related communities and the systems for identifying ‘experts’ on their sites.
Asynchronous communication system for patients and providers.
Proposed systems to assist patients and providers communicate with each other online, asynchronously.
Complex Adaptive Systems- an online reading list.
Complex Adaptive Systems are those in which multiple agents act, learn, and change. (Much like an online community.) They are hard to predict and require a particular approach in order to ‘manage’ them.
Organizational Cultures- I.T. Vs Clinical.
By looking at the differences between Information Technology and Clinical culture, and how they collide, one can better understand how to have them work toward a common goal.
How might providers deal with patient created information? What is the value and power in a PHR? I take a look at Dossia as an example.
Use of privacy and ethics statements in virtual land.
The use of privacy and ethics statements on webpages is well known. Should this carried over to virtual world land?
Virtual World Design and Healthcare – Beyond walking a web page
Thoughts on creating a virtual world portal to self-help groups. It’s not a list but more like a Disney ride.
More details on my professional background.
More posts on Collaboration and Community.
Login2Life is a theatrical documentary about the real and in-world lives of several people. The teaser trailer includes scenes with Alice Krueger, a tireless proponent for virtual world’s being able to help people with real life health issues.
(Spoiler: 1st 2 seconds or so might not be safe for work)
As folks know, I do research and volunteer in this area. I hope the movie will draw people’s attention to the healthy opportunities these worlds offer, and, frankly, make the whole idea seem a little less weird to folks.
(I have not seen the movie myself, but have heard from someone who knows online healthcare and has seen it, that it is good.)
This Monday, the 12th, there will be press conference about the movie that one can attend in-world. It begins at 9 am SLT at the Sojourner Auditorium in Second Life.
Login2Life website.
SLHealthy is the website for those who are interested in more information on support groups in Second Life.
There are hundreds of healthcare support groups in the virtual world of Second Life, but how does one educate a visitor about them?
HealthInfo Island started out with a simple list of support groups, then created a path with posters. It was at this point that the Path was handed to me.
I took my inspiration not from medical literature, but from Disney. Organization was less about taxonomies, than Japanese gardens. The material was not didactic but traced the arch of a story of empowerment.
The Path grew out of my sketches and thoughts. I hope it helps others:
The Path was eventually created and lasted for over a year before an island wide redesign. Screen shots and an older article.
