NHPCO Steps Boldly into the Realm of Social Networking with My.NHPCO By Jon Radulovic, MA
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acebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, Blogspot—Internet sites that where unfamiliar to most people only a couple of years ago are now part of daily life for many Americans. Tweeting, texting, posting, linking, and surfing have new meaning in our contemporary vocabulary. What many refer to as social networking tools were created to facilitate communication between two individuals, however, the professional world has been quick to adopt these communications tools and see how they might benefit life in the workplace. Some would observe that these social networking tools are perhaps a greater part of the lives of those on the younger side of Generation X, but demographics show that people of all ages are using these tools in varying degrees to communicate. While the full impact of social networking as a professional tool in the workplace is unknown, the power of this medium cannot be questioned. More and more organizations are integrating these tools as part of their communications strategy and are only now beginning to assess the effectiveness of these changes. In the hospice and palliative care community, there has been any number of early adopters. For example, San Diego Hospice and its Palliative Care Center has been active on Twitter for some time, Alive Hospice in Nashville launched its successful online blog last year, and the blog, Pallimed.org, has established itself as a valuable source of news and information. Now, NHPCO has launched its own social networking community continued on next page
September 2009
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