Do You Tweet?

Twitter has definitely taken off in the world of social media, and the interstitial cystitis community has joined the party! Signing up for Twitter is a very quick process and can be as public or private as you like.

The great thing about Twitter is, of course, its brevity. A 'tweet' can only be 140 characters long, so if you are leaning away from longer blog posts or newsletters to get your information, Twitter may just be your key!

Here are a few more hints:

• Twitter "handles" are preceded by the @ sign. So my Twitter handle is @ICDietitian
• To make Twitter work for you, be sure to follow only those people/companies that you really want to hear from. You can find people to follow by checking the lists of other people! If you want to know of a few good IC Twitter handles, just check my follow list!
• Twitter is, in general, a very polite and reciprocal social environment. Retweeting is considered a compliment and thanking people for retweeting is common.
• Have you seen people use those number signs (#) in their tweets? Those are actually called "hashtags" and when used before keywords, they make it easier for people to follow topics. You can create "lists" to follow that will quickly show you what is being said about these topics. Some common hashtags for interstitial cystitis include:
• #interstitial_cystitis
• #interstitialcystitis
• #ICDiet
• #painfulbladder
• Twitter "chats" often use these hashtags to help people follow "real time" conversations among number of people. Look for several #ICDiet chats to come in 2012!

PS: Feel free to post your Twitter handle in the comments! (Note: all comments are moderated and nothing related to advertisements or naughty things will be published. So keep it nice!)

Julie Beyer, MA, RDN

Author, Speaker, Patient Advocate

www.ic-diet.com  

Helping Yourself Is the First Step to Getting Well

For step by step guidance for creating your own personal interstitial cystitis meal plan, see: Confident Choices^®: Customizing the Interstitial Cystitis Diet.

For some basic, family-style, IC bladder-friendly recipes, see: Confident Choices^®: A Cookbook for Interstitial Cystitis and Overactive Bladder

For health care workers:  Interstitial Cystitis: A Guide for Nutrition Educators

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