Dec 15, 2010

Finding Gluten-Free Support on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, and Forums

Whether you or a family member are new to gluten-free life or have been gluten-free for years, social networking sites offer invaluable gluten-free support. You likely already discovered the plethora of gluten-free blogs and websites and may be overwhelmed by too much information.

With gluten-free social networking, it is easiest to start with what you know. For example, if you are on Facebook and using it to connect with former classmates, it will be easy for you to like some gluten-free Facebook pages and add gluten-free friends. If you are already using LinkedIn for professional reasons, you can join gluten-free groups there.

My recommendation is to join at least one national/international celiac forum, a local celiac support group, and Twitter. If you are only joining one forum, I suggest the Celiac Listserv. I belong to the DC Celiac Yahoo group, which is a fantastic local resource that even has an extensive restaurant database.

These articles from my Gluten-Free Social Media Tips blog provide information on social networking as well as many links to help you get started.

10 Reasons to Tweet Gluten-Free

Gluten-Free Tweeting 101: Follow These Easy Steps

Top 10 Gluten-Free Facebook Fan Pages

Discover LinkedIn Groups

Ning Makes Gluten-Free Social Networking Easy

Popular Gluten-Free Forums

Unless you are a blogger, gluten-free professional, or social media specialist, don’t go overboard joining everything here. Each one requires time and effort to get the most out of it. No matter how many Facebook pages I like and create, I still find myself on Twitter daily, spending less time on Facebook. If you have a question or need assistance, post a comment below or tweet me @MarylandCeliac.

1 comment:

AEPaul said...

May I recommend that your users visit AllergyEats as well (www.allergyeats.com)?

AllergyEats is the largest and fastest-growing online guide to allergy- and intolerance-friendly restaurants. It is peer-based, so the ratings are objective. Individuals with allergies or intolerances rate their dining experiences by answering 3 simple questions (it takes under a minute). Then, when someone in our community is looking to dine out, he/she can search the database geographically to get some leads.

AllergyEats also includes some factual information about the restaurant including gluten-free menus, gf certifications, phone #'s, maps and directions, etc.

Our entire community will benefit if your readers visit and use the site.

Any questions? contact@allergyeats.com

Thank you.