The Upcoming Wired In Online Recovery Community: An Update on Progress

I was thrilled on Friday to receive an email from Nathan Pitman of Nine Four to say that I can start loading content onto our new website, which will be located at www.wiredin.org.uk. He has completed a good deal of work on our content management system. 

This doesn't mean that the website will be ready for viewing in the near future, as we have lots of content to load and much testing to do. However, it will be ready sometime in the autumn. Some of our close colleagues will be getting an earlier sneak preview and helping us trouble shoot.

The new website will be an online recovery community, a place where people can meet and interact, learn about recovery and addiction, contribute content, and help others. We will be offering personal web pages where you can show your personal profile, write a Blog, and get involved in other activities. The best of the material generated by our community members will be highlighted on one of three channel pages - Users/Ex-Users, Families and Practitioners - and on Daily Dose. We will be using a variety of social networking tools to get more people involved from around the world.

I am so excited as I have been dreaming about this online community ever since I first read Amy Jo Kim's excellent book on web communities seven years. Have tried to get funding to set up and maintain a community in the past, but no such luck.

There is no doubt that this web community can be very special, helping people affected by substance use problems and acting as a recovery advocacy centre to improve and widen the understanding of recovery and addiction in society. However, its success will depend on you!

Nathan will be posting sneak previews of the site on our Flickr pages. I have also attached a short video on recovery from our recently set up vimeo channel. 

If you want to be informed of our latest news, you can sign up to an RSS feed on the right side of this Blog.

PS. I should point that whilst I have some money to fund the initial development of this online community, I need to raise a good deal of funding to keep it maintained. I start making approaches to potential sponsors or other funders when my children finish their holiday visit with me in a few weeks time. Wish me luck!!