HogeTown

Got a chronic illness? Get online

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

Interesting new study from the Pew Research Center. It confirms that while people (in the US) with a chronic health condition are less likely to get online than people not suffering a chronic illness, once online they become a mighty social networking force.

And yet, those who are online have a trump card. They have each other. This survey finds that having a chronic disease increases the probability that an internet user will share what they know and learn from their peers. They unearth nuggets of information. They blog. They participate in online discussions.

I suspect it’s similar for people with a disability.

Indeed I’d be keen to see a survey similatr in size to this one that went further and looked at whether people with a disability or a major chronic illness not only used social media to engage more about their affliction but about anything. The internet lowers the barrier for disabled people to find their tribe (whether it’s an online writing group, manga chat room or a MUD) as well as making it easier to find information about their health. It certainly has for me.

Research grant anyone?

Tags: Disability, internet
Posted in Disability | 1 Comment »

The internet and politics – a short first take

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Tomorrow, Kate and I venture off into the vast unknown that is the northern hemisphere. The bags are packed (well, mine is) the iPod is charged and the books are selected.

There’s a lot to look forward to on this trip – the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary, catching up with buddies at the bar in Calgary, visiting San Franciso and Washington. But I’m most excited by the fact we arrive in New York the night before the presidential election. I love elections (and not just because it’s part of my job to help win them) but there’s such a vibrancy to them. In Brisbane we’ve got a polling booth across the road from us and it’s a great feeling to be able to simply walk out the door and vote.

Come the night of November 4 I’m looking forward to finding the right kind of bar in New York, sitting down and watching the results roll in. It could be interesting if it’s a close result because we’re booked in to have breakfast with a publisher the next morning, and I’m kinda figuring that pulling an all-nighter probably isn’t the done thing. But I’m getting the feeling it won’t be a close thing.

It’s been an interesting campaign. From a political sense it was interesting to watch McCain throw the dice again and again (choosing Palin, halting his campaign to deal with the economic crisis, and raisng the stakes by going super-negative) and lose but I’m just as interested to see the wash-up of the internet and the effect it had on the election.

Lots of people are rushing to say us inter-webbed masses have already won the election for Obama but I’m not sure whether they are confusing cause and effect. I genuinely don’t know. I think the impact is wide but I’m not sure how deep. And I think it could also be a result of Republican ineptitude. Anyway, I’m looking forward to talking about it in the US.

In the meantime, let me leave you with two intersting pieces of information pertinent to the changing face of elections The first is the information people googled during the VP debate. Read some analysis of it here.

The second is the fact You Tube wasn’t even around during the 2004 presidential election, which is a shame because it it was we may have seen more gems like this:

Here’s betting the number of views on YouTube increase tenfold in the next 24 hours.

UPDATE: YouTube received a takedown notice for the video. You can see it here instead.

Tags: internet, politics, travel, you tube
Posted in politics | 4 Comments »