Weaving a Web of Shiatsu
Weaving
a Web of
Shiatsu Communities
Online,
Written
by Steven Booth
There is no doubting that the internet has changed the way we communicate. Most businesses, for instance, have realised the importance of having a presence on the web, both through their own site, listing in web-based directories and on other pages. If you type ‘shiatsu’ as a keyword into Google it spits out over six-million hits! Finding relevant information is often an exhaustive process of separating the wheat from the chaff.
Most of us are familiar with using the internet for research, and even for marketing purposes; however, in writing this article I posed the question “What usefulness does the internet have for the shiatsu therapist in terms of networking and peer support?”
There are a variety of ways to network online. There are countless chatrooms, blogs, forums and lists on more topics than you can imagine. This can be a problem initially because there are almost too many sites to make sense of, and it often seems that everyone wants to be an expert! Unfortunately, this means that the quality of the content and discussions are habitually poor. Of course this is not always the case; the value of networking and communication between shiatsu therapists cannot be underestimated, and this is why we need to examine and make best use of the networking resources of the internet.
The Blog, short for web-log, is becoming increasingly popular. Blogspot.com (recently brought out by Google) is one example of a Blogging website. Blogs can be likened to an online soap-box, a place to voice your opinion, make announcements or simply scribble your thoughts for the world to read if they choose. It is common now for blogs to include multimedia content such as pictures and video. There are many shiatsu related blogs around, ranging from the daily ramblings of shiatsu practitioners, the reflections of clients, and memos of shiatsu organizations. The UK based zen shiatsu society has a well established blog running for several years at http://shiatsusociety.blogspot.com/.
So called ‘Social-Networking’ sites, such as mySpace and FaceBook, have become extremely popular in recent times. These sites offer uses a space to meet and network online, and combine the blogging concept with online ‘profiles’ and groups. They give users an individual page where they can list their interests, and find others who are of similar mind. Something that might have started as a way for stereotypical geeky teens to keep in contact has exploded in terms of both popularity and demographic: according to ‘comScore’ the majority of the 109.5 million visitors to MySpace users are now over 35. Searching these sites will turn up hundreds, even thousands, of shiatsu therapists who have caught on to this trend.
Video sharing sites like Youtube allow you to watch footage of shiatsu practice, lectures and workshops, the more interesting and unusual such as equine shiatsu or watsu (shiatsu in water), as well as the bizarre: Cute video of a kitten performing shiatsu massage on another kitten in a pet store in Sydney. Usenet/newsgroups have been around since the internet began, and groups such as ‘misc.health.alternative’ and ‘alt.backrubs’ sometimes discuss shiatsu and related topics. Mailing lists use group e-mails that allow many people to post articles and carry on discussions about various topics; Yahoo!Groups are one example of this, and have several lists dedicated to shiatsu, and have a relatively high number of members and traffic volume.
In my experience, peer based forums are the most effective way to communicate amongst people in a particular field, and provide the opportunity for question/answer discussions, and many varied opinions. This type of collaboration and freedom to share ideas creates a sense of community between users. These forums consist of ‘threads’ or conversations, which are made up of a series of messages sent and responded to by members of the forum. These can provide the opportunity for valuable, intelligent and often ‘cutting edge’ discussions. For example shiatsucentre.net has contributions by such recognized names as Carola Beresford-Cooke and Peter Deadman. Yinyanghouse.com is another site that has forums where broader topics of TCM and alternative medicine are discussed.
There
are a number of
factors that makes some sites more successful than others. An online
forum needs adequate (but not excessive) traffic and volume, must be
spam-free, fun, interesting, and encourage participation and sharing
among all its members. Online networking is about supporting
each other, being open to ideas and expanding our knowledgebase, and
being part of a worldwide community.
By Steven
Booth
Steven practices Shiatsu and teaches Qigong in Essendon. He can be contacted at http://www.sevenstarshiatsu.com.au/