Attendance:

The chat was attended by an enthusiastic group, including a health educator in India who addresses drugs in relation to HIV/AIDS; a Canadian blogger who is part of a highly-effective anti-stigma campaign; an HIV-positive Canadian activist--new to blogging-who has been working tirelessly for treatment access for women and girls; and the co-moderator of a Burmese HIV/AIDS information blog, who is an experienced bilingual blogger.

There was also a public librarian from Tanzania, interested in ICTs; a representative of AIDS Walk New York, who told us that all of their 45,000 participants have unique stories to tell about how HIV/AIDS has affected their lives; and a member of the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS, whose "Wake Up Pune" nonprofit in India uses arts and media to address HIV/AIDS.

Discussion:

The discussion this time centered around the Blogging Positively Guide itself, though other questions and issues were addressed too, such as why blogging can be important for people affected by HIV/AIDS; the vital roles of mentoring and advocacy; use of citizen-media tools other than blogging; and how blogging might be employed to address health challenges and other urgent concerns in political and geographical hotspots.

On the Guide, there were numerous helpful suggestions and topics covered:

    * Ensuring that the Guide will include basic "how-to" tips, so those not familiar with blogging will have material that is clear and easy to understand.

    * Developing working groups and a workplan to build momentum and cover all needed topics.

    *  Figuring out who we are trying to reach with the Guide, how we will do that, and what will be most useful to them.

    * Chapters of the Guide might include such information as how to blog, how to train others, "why blog?", advocacy, health education, safety and anonymity, connecting with others, language translations, stigma and discrimination, monitoring and editing, responsibility, commentary, citizen media tools (other than blogging), promoting leadership, contents, resources and links, best practices.

    * Collecting best practices to showcase in the Guide.

    *  How to involve people living in areas less Internet-accessible.

    * How to include in this project more individuals and groups most directly affected by HIV/AIDS.

Possible activities linked to the Guide include:

    * Developing partnerships with networks, nonprofits, blogging platforms, and others.

    * Organizing an international corps of local bloggers focusing on HIV/AIDS.

    * Advocacy campaigns and "crisis blogging" for global hot-spots.

    * Training programs.

    * Collecting and telling stories of people affected by HIV/AIDS.

    * Mentoring people who want to learn to tell their own stories.

    * Encouraging formal (activist) and informal (support and friendships) blogger links

    * Working face-to-face with other project bloggers when possible.

    * Setting up a blog for those connected to the project, so we can share and discuss the project.

    * Health education campaigns.

    *  Use of ICTs other than blogging and the Internet.

    * Supporting and empowering HIV+ bloggers, and individuals and communities directly affected by HIV/AIDS.

Next steps will include the March 6th chat (www.worknets.org/chat), forming working groups, collecting best practices, doing outreach--especially to individuals and groups living with or affected by HIV/AIDS--and discussing what chapters and topics to include in the Guide.

Janet Feldman
KAIPPG International and ActALIVE
Coordinator, Blogging Positively Guide
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