How do people to form a community? Throughout human history, communities have been formed by basic factors like family, clans, tribes, geography and religions. As societies grew more and more complex, the kinds of communities they formed grew more and more complex as well - developing things like guilds and fraternal organizations and sports fans.
In the internet age, communities can be formed by things such as shared injuries.
As I get ready to begin the next step of the recovery process from my boo boo, I've discovered a whole internet community devoted specifically to Achilles tendon injuries. In addition to a host of medical articles and reference guides, there are also a number of excellent blogs specifically devoted to this topic, such as:
- Achilles Tendon Rupture Blog
- My Achilles Tendon Rupture Blog
- Achilles Tendon Rupture Recovery by February 8th, 2009
- Ruptured Achilles Tendon?
From the names, you get the idea that they're after a very specific audience!
Now, as in all human relationships, every community has its hierarchy and pecking order. In the case of Achilles blogs, the alpha dog is apparently someone named Simon Barratt. OK, maybe he's not the alpha dog - but if you've ever read Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point, he appears to be the "connector" of the Achilles community since everyone seems to cite his site.
Some people also have more general interest blogs that happen to address Achilles issues - interesting to read what this guy says about seeing a spike in hits due to his Achilles postings.
So what have I learned from the Achilles Tendon Rupture (ATR) community?
- It seems like a lot of other people were put into some sort of boot instead of a hard cast - wonder why I didn't have that option?
- Physical therapy, which starts for me on Wednesday, is necessary, long and unpleasant. But even after a year and a half there's no guarantee of walking 100% normally. Hey, I'm planning to settle for being able to push the stroller somewhat normally!
- Seems like other people have arrived at my solution for managing the shower.
Most importantly, I've learned that, while I wouldn't wish this on anyone (well, maybe someone like this), I can take comfort in knowing that there's a community out there of people who have experienced the same thing.
2 comments:
Now Buddy. When you say "took a class" you give the impression that you took a course and in the "taking" of that course, you attended an entire series of "classes". However, I do believe that had this actually been the case, you might not have found your text book still in the bag from the book store when you went to study for your final.
Of course, the subsequent "A", probably confirms your interest in the subject.
Man, there's a community out there for everyone! There is no doubt that the Internet makes the world a smaller place. Have you latched onto any Achilles injury podcasts yet? :)
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