Re: Question to members about contributions from Professiona
Patch said:
Can I ask - are those of you that are against professionals posting, actually against them posting completely, or against them being identified as professionals within their posts?
TBH - as far as I'm concerned, good advice is good advice, and I couldn't care less if the person offering it is identified as a qualified professional or not.
So what's good advice? Stuff you agree with? Stuff that works? How do you know? I think many people will see "letters after the name=good advice".
Allowing people to advise from a position of professional expertise would create a two tier system for many people. Being in a discussion about what you do from your own experience and how that works, is very different to saying 'I'm a medical professional' which will often translate into 'I know what's best'.
For me I don't want people coming on the forum to convince me that they have the answer to my diabetes, whether that be full carb, low carb, no carb, reflexology or some tincture made from the posterior sweat glands of South American fruitbats. I want read about other people's experiences, ask specific questions, vent occasionally and share news. I'm not interested in evangelical attempts to convert me to the church of only eating food with a 'k' in it or whatever.
Medical professional can and should be able to post but only as users of the forum. I believe this should be a forum primarily written by people with diabetes for people with diabetes (and their families etc.). If I want medical advice, I'll go to my medical team. I can then use the forum to test, probe and challenge that advice by asking experienced people on the forum.
Bringing medical professional status in will, IMHO, irrevocably change the forum. It will bring a whole host of issues regarding the verification of these posters, liability about advice given, and ongoing issues over what happens when a professional gets into a spat with a civilian and feels they have been defamed etc. Advice here is given freely based on personal experience only, and it is understood to be on that basis only. That changes when you allow people to put their qualifications on.
I was reading about a poster on Mumsnet who had protracted discussions about the death of their child involving lots of other people, only for it to come out that she had faked the whole thing. Some people clearly get their kicks out of trying to manipulate people, some people are simply fruitcakes, some people are charlatans, some people are well meaning but obnoxious, some people are misguided. Here, we're all just people with diabetes. It's a great equaliser.