Like a number of people I have a lot of on-line friends, more if I'm honest than I have in the off-line world. And this week I lost one. One of my tweeps (that's what I call my friends on the micro-blogging site Twitter) has died after a long health struggle that he bravely kept to himself. This was a person I had never met in the off line world, didn't know what he looked like or what his off line name was. I know he was tolerant and kind and quirky, I know we shared a love of opera, shoes (he was a self-declared transvestite), take away food and most importantly a sense of humour. @daminicustard was always ready with a virtual hug when I posted a sad thought or a witty quip, we recommended each other to our own followers and I like to think we made each other laugh. It's hard to think that I'll never get another *mwah* for giving him a #ff recommendation or making him smile.
So don't tell me that relationships in the virtual world are some how less authentic or meaningful than those in the off line world. If they were the grief I'm feeling at the moment would be much less painful and much less real. As health care professionals this may be an area of loss we have not even begun to think about addressing but it is an area of care we cannot ignore for much longer. Social media has made communication both more immediate and more intimate and working out how to support individuals who have lost people they never really had in the 'real' world is possibly one of the next big challenges in nursing care.
So, goodbye @daminicustard, I'm sad you never knew how special you were, it was a privilege to be one of your Twitter friends and I hope, wherever you are now, you are finally happy.
So don't tell me that relationships in the virtual world are some how less authentic or meaningful than those in the off line world. If they were the grief I'm feeling at the moment would be much less painful and much less real. As health care professionals this may be an area of loss we have not even begun to think about addressing but it is an area of care we cannot ignore for much longer. Social media has made communication both more immediate and more intimate and working out how to support individuals who have lost people they never really had in the 'real' world is possibly one of the next big challenges in nursing care.
So, goodbye @daminicustard, I'm sad you never knew how special you were, it was a privilege to be one of your Twitter friends and I hope, wherever you are now, you are finally happy.
