hello fellow bloggers « Diabetic Round Table

Posted by: Zazzy | June 19, 2008

hello fellow bloggers

I got an email tonight from a Dr. Geoff Rutledge inviting us to be a part of a medical blogging community. Setting aside for the moment that most of us here are type 2, not type 1 – I wanted to give everyone (what? all 3 or 4 of you?) a chance to weigh in on this. Explore his site and decide whether you think it’s something that you are interested in.

Hi Zazzy,

I was searching for the best medical bloggers when I discovered your blog at http://zazamataz.wordpress.com/. I want to tell you I think your writing is fantastic — I really liked your post on Diabetes, “follow the yellow brick road”. My name is Dr. Geoff Rutledge, and I’ve taught and practiced Internal and Emergency Medicine for over 25 years at Harvard and Stanford medical schools. I’m also the Chief Medical Information Officer at Wellsphere (www.wellsphere.com), where we are building a network of the web’s leading health bloggers, and I think you would be a great addition.

Wellsphere is a fast growing, next-generation online platform that is revolutionizing the way people find and share health and healthy living information and services. Our platform connects millions of users with the valuable insights and knowledge from health leaders and knowledgeable writers like you.

We are now launching a new health community on Diabetes Type 1, and I would like to invite you to be a featured blogger for this community. By joining our network of hundreds of leading health and healthy living bloggers, you will be in great company, and will benefit from exposure to the expanded audience of the Wellsphere community. When you join, we also will feature you on our very popular WellBlog (http://www.wellsphere.com/blog.s), with a link back to your blog.

We will republish the postings you’ve already written for you (through your RSS feed), and feature them not only on the Diabetes Type 1 community pages of the site, but also within a new dynamic magazine-like Wellsphere360 section, where we give users a comprehensive view of expert information, news, videos, local resources, and member postings on topics you write about. Your profile page on the site will give you special status as a featured blogger in the Diabetes Type 1 community. If you are an active contributor, we also will feature you on our homepage at www.wellsphere.com.

By connecting to the Wellsphere platform, you will greatly expand the audience for your postings and attract additional readers to your blog. Also, your posts will link back to your blog, so you will benefit from Wellsphere’s high ranking and large readership interested in your topic, which will give you more traffic, additional relevant audience, and a higher ranking for your blog.

If you would like to be a featured blogger in the Diabetes Type 1 community, just send me an email to Dr.Rutledge@wellsphere.com. You can see a sample of a Wellsphere360 special section at http://www.wellsphere.com/Wellsphere360/diabetes-type-2.htm

Good health,

Geoff

–

Geoffrey W. Rutledge MD, PhD

Chief Medical Information Officer

Wellsphere, Inc.

http://www.wellsphere.com

Posted in Diabetes

Responses

I’m not comfortable being part of “Diabetes Type 1 community pages.” I have nothing against Type 1, and we do talk about both types, but we are primarily type 2’s around here. This has the potential to lead to some confusion. Couldn’t they just say “Diabetes community pages” and leave off the type 1? The website looks rather interesting. It’s a place I’d be inclined to visit again.
By: adamswife on June 19, 2008
at 10:45 pm

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Even though I am insulin dependent I find that I am actually a type 2 after all. I share Eve’s concern and would wish it were a community for all diabetics… like us. That being said, it is a nice offer and I’m sure it would increase our readership… if that’s what we all want.
By: Phatz on June 20, 2008
at 1:44 am

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P.S.

The site I visited was for type 2’s… so I’m a little confused.
By: Phatz on June 20, 2008
at 1:49 am

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I imagine, if we were to be involved, we would be in the type 2 section (which looks like a mock up right now). I would also rather be just part of a general diabetes community. I’m not sure they understand that we are a group blog and I honestly don’t know how I feel about being a part of the thing.

Post some questions and I’ll see if they respond to us.
By: Zazzy on June 20, 2008
at 10:08 pm

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Looks good to me
By: pug2n on June 21, 2008
at 3:15 am

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I guess the best question would be does this doc know we’re a small group or is he just interested in your contributions? It kinda reads to me like if you contribute to his blog he’ll link to yours.
By: Phatz on June 24, 2008
at 2:32 am

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Okay, finally emailed him with the community and type issues. I’m not interested unless he’s wanting the whole lot of you. That said, the whole lot of you oughta post more!

mwah ha ha ha!
By: Zazzy on June 25, 2008
at 3:39 pm

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Well kids, it looks like we are going to give this a try.

Thanks for your reply. We still welcome your “round table” blog and will publish the articles through your RSS feed with your permission and link back to your site. We also publish your profile with a link back to your site, and we feature you on special sections on topics that you write on, and in your topic-based community.

We will set up your profile if you don’t already have one, and will connect to your RSS feed, so you don’t have to do anything but give us permission to publish your content on our site (you retain copyright for your content). We don’t require a particular schedule for posting, though we have invited you to become a Wellsphere health blogger based in part on your history of posting on your blog.

Our growing network of bloggers (now in the many hundreds) have told us they value what Wellsphere is trying to accomplish – helping people of all walks of life and across the spectrum of health to achieve healthier lives. They also appreciate the opportunity to reach the larger (and also rapidly growing!) Wellsphere audience, and to benefit from links in each posting that drive traffic back to their blogs.

We would be happy to include you in our network as we expand into health topics.
By: Zazzy on June 25, 2008
at 4:47 pm

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I should update you on this stuff.

Welcome again to the Wellsphere health bloggers network. We recently sent you a note to tell you that we have set up your profile and are ready to post articles from your RSS feed into your community – but I’m sorry to say we indicated the wrong community in that note. My apologies for the confusion!

Please rest assured that you are indeed signed up for the Diabetes Type 1 community. If that is not the right community, or if you would prefer to participate in a different topic-based community, please drop me a line. All the new health communities will be launching next month. In the mean time, we have already included your articles in our search index, so members searching on specific topics will find your posts.

By the way, we are always on the lookout for more great bloggers to join the network. If you know others who fit this description, feel free to tell them about us and invite them to send me an email — or just forward their contact information to me. I’ll review their site and send them an invitation.

I reckon we’re in the type 1 community until the type 2 community is created? We can sort it out once those communities are up and running.

Some of my favorite D bloggers are involved in other community efforts. Feel free to make recommendations for any of your favorites, I’m still thinking. I also want to see whether this works out well for us before telling friends that they should join.

You can join and create a profile rather like a cross between the old MSN groups and facebook, if you like. When they have us in the feed the link will come back to all of us here. I guess.
By: Zazzy on June 29, 2008
at 10:46 pm

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You might want to take a look at what the Assertive Cancer Pt wrote on her blog at http://www.assertivepatient.com/2008/06/wellsphere-use.html .

I guess it’s not for everyone.
By: Roy on June 30, 2008
at 8:51 am

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Assertive Cancer Pt has a point – that she doesn’t want her content used for free. The fact is that my content is constantly scraped by unscrupulous sploggers. This guy is asking permission.

I don’t think we write the kind of blog here that demands or merits payment. We are a support community, not professional bloggers. But, that’s just my opinion.

We can always pull out – what’s your opinion fellow DRT bloggers?
By: Zazzy on June 30, 2008
at 10:27 am

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I don’t see my small part worthy of payment… and I believe the exchange of our kind of information absolutely should be free to anyone who could benefit from it.
By: Phatz on June 30, 2008
at 7:41 pm

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