Why you need to join the #bcsm movement on Twitter
I confess... I do not spend as much time as I once did on Twitter. When I was in active treatment, Twitter was my lifeline to connect with other people in the world who understood intimately what it meant to be a breast cancer patient and then a breast cancer survivor. From those early days, I connected with a huge network of caring people via social media. It didn't take long before someone realized that there was power in that connection and in 2011, the Twitter hashtag #bcsm (Breast Cancer Social Media) was born.
#bcsm is the hashtag used to coalesce the breast cancer community on social media. The hashtag is followed by a mixture of patients, caregivers, medical personnel, oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, plastic surgeons, hospitals, researchers and more. It is a powerful opportunity for concerned members of the breast cancer community to come together, learn from each other and share the experience of breast cancer from their perspective.
On any given week, the #bcsm hashtag has a reach of over 1.2 million people. That is amazing and powerful.
I really just HATE breast cancer.
It is as simple as that. I keep losing friends because of this disease and I owe it to them and to myself to stay plugged in and aware of what's happening in the breast cancer community.
I want to keep learning, keep understanding and stay connected to my friends and partners in this fight. If you haven't joined the chat, please do. I've placed the link to the hashtag thread in this post below. I cannot tell you just how great this community is and how excited I am to continue to be a part of it. Please join us.
The #bcsm chats take place every Monday evening at 9pm Eastern time, 6pm Pacific time on Twitter. Just pull out your phone or your computer and follow the hashtag. If you can't make the chats live, plan to read the hashtag later in the week when you have the time. It's always worth it. However, I will admit that the hour spent live tweeting with your tribe on Monday nights is an amazing feeling.
The recommended tips to participate are as follows:
Best Practices for the #bcsm Chat
- Please DO share relevant, evidence-based articles and research reports on breast cancer treatments with the #bcsm. Please DO share blog posts written by you or others – we can all learn from one another.
- When using the #bcsm hashtag, make sure you ask yourself, will this add value to the breast cancer community? Or will this information confuse the community?
- If you represent your organization or corporation on Twitter and want to interact with the #bcsm community, feel free to do so. Make sure to introduce yourself to the community so we know who’s behind the brand! Tag relevant content with the #bcsm community, but don’t overly promote or spam the hashtag.
Learn more about #bcsm here:
#bcsmTweets
*Novartis did sponsor my trip to NYC to participate in their first advanced breast cancer advisory council. My travel expenses were covered but I was not paid for my time there nor for my contributions to the conversation. My thoughts about that meeting are my own.
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Nicole McLean is a survivor of Stage 3 breast cancer and the Founder of the award-winning breast cancer blog, My Fabulous Boobies. Leading with compassion, empathy, and passion, she helps other survivors and their caregivers understand and prepare themselves for the breast cancer journey and life after breast cancer. Her focus is on survivorship and reconnecting with the "you" that gets lost after diagnosis. She consults with businesses and individuals/families on ways to make this terrible experience a bit more manageable. She has written several ebooks regarding specific aspects of the breast cancer experience, with several more in the pipeline. bit.ly/FabBoobiesBio << Nicole's bio for FabulousBoobies.com bit.ly/FabBoobiesBooksbyNicole << List of books written by Nicole for FabulousBoobies.com bit.ly/FabBoobiesShop << The FabulousBoobies.com Gift Shop (cancer tees)
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