In the beginning…Jackie and I were real trailblazers back in the day. What I mean is, before there was the grand awesomeness that is today known as the DOC(Diabetes Online Community)we were co-hosting and moderating webchats (yes, like an actual chatroom boys and girls), where we would conduct live interviews with doctors/researchers and other diabetes professionals and guests around the country would log on and talk amongst each other too (it was called “Diabetes Teen Talk” with Allison Nimlos) and for that hour, we all felt connected.
I mean pre-Twitter, pre-facebook, pre-Tumblr, sort of mini DOC era, our followers, the two of us (and the Diabetic Angels) and Allison, truly enjoyed this weekly communication and it was so fulfilling to witness diabetics and their friends and family being helped, encouraged, informed and empowered during that hour because of these simple little ‘chats.’
As you may know, that has grown into an entire community of people with diabetes, their family members and friends. We are so grateful to have been such a small yet integral part of shaping what the DOC is today and have loved watching it progress into countless twitter meet ups, Twitter Chats on Wednesdays, (#dsma on Twitter) and entire conferences (those conferences by the way, the people who attend - are representing all of the DOC out there.) Have you read these Blogs that reach thousands of people every day? Kerri, Scott,Naomi, Allison, Michael, Amy, George, and sooooooo many more. So many blogs - that DiabetesDailywas created so that people could keep track of all of the blogs out there related to diabetes! (wow!)
Without all of them and their support to so many, I don’t know where I would be. For example, Naomi Kingery is the reason I started blogging. I didn’t grow up or go to school with other people who had diabetes, other than attending the JDRF Children’s Congress, so Naomi was one of the first “people like me” I could find when I was looking for other people out there writing about diabetes and going through the same things I was going through. Her positive outlook on life and living with her diabetes was so inspiring and uplifting, I am forever thankful, Naomi! She’s now an author of “The Sugar Free Series.” And that is the reason I still blog, because I know there are people out there going through the same things I am, and maybe I can help them. Even if its just with a comment on something they wrote.
But it isn’t just the famous DOC bloggers that are a part of the DOC. The Diabetic Online Community are ALL OF US! We’re all a family! All of us diabetics out there looking for support, advice, how-to’s, or just people who want to vent.
It’s amazing and worthy of a big round of applause, for these are no small feat! For any blogger reading this, know that we truly admire and support everyone and your dedication involved in building the DOC… we hope you can feel the love from our keyboard to yours!
P.S. If you’re proud to say that we were there contributing like us in the beginning, please like this post and/or tell us your story, we’d love to hear about your experiences!
Connect with us! We’d love to welcome you and announce to the world you’re out there! Making connections and commenting back to each other is SO important, so turn your replies on, your ask buttons, comments from disqus, whatever you need to do, give us all a way to comment! Let us know about your blog or Twitter name! Reply to this or @reply someone on twitter! (mine is @curemoll)
And if you’re feeling left out of the DOC, why? What are some things we can do??
