Social Media, Illness & Business: Interview with Amy Ohm

Last week I conducted the first #bizfrombed (Twitter “hashtag“) live interview/Tweetchat, with Amy Ohm, the founder of the Treatment Diaries, and co-participants, Stephanie Zimmerman, founder of My Heart Your Hands, and Laurie Marrelli, creator of the email marketing program, InBox Goodness. Although the scope of our work varies, we share the experience of being women who have (or still are) managing our business lives in conjunction with a serious illness. In each case, the illness has guided us in different directions than we were previously headed. No matter that illness (periodic, if not persistent) is a normal part of life; it’s not “safe” to talk about our daily challenges with co-workers, colleagues or family members. Personal agendas of each make it difficult to trust the outcome of revelation. Even as a growing number of Internet platforms invite people with various life challenges to come together to “commiserate” and share, most come with a potential threat: the possibility of discrimination, rejection or misunderstanding. What’s more, notes Amy, many “private” sites encourage “liking” or “tweeting,” meaning a personal entry can make its way to a public forum. Why? Not for the benefit of the user, but to attract more folks to the…