A social media network for ASDs?

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I was thinking about how beneficial it could be if there was a social media network/platform for people with ASDs, their family, and their friends.

Would you use it if it existed and allowed you to also engage with medical professionals and researchers as well?

I'm just surprised with all this technology, us with ASDs still don't have any real platform in this day in age.

I've been thinking that with all of today's technology, it could be used to give people with ASDs a big voice and help improve our lives...

What would people do on this social media network for autism?
What do you envision?

use it to connect, talk, and hopefully organize people into one voice.
With people suffering from ASDs, their family, friends, and maybe their medical professionals, it would lead to known platform that could lead to to people being more interconnected and helping each other.

It would also give strength in numbers, to hopefully effect government policy, especially places like the U.S. where support and help from the governments is borderline non existent.

One of the main reasons why the governments don't offer anything, is due to a lack of research and the lack of pressure from those who know or personally suffer from themselves.

Autism researchers, medical professionals, and educational professionals have noted the lack of means to find and interact with people who know and suffer with ASDs.

Plus it could lead to apps and other forms of software, developed for people with ASDs with input from them...

Us on the ASD, our family and friends are very fragment group which is hindering our ability to change things for the better.

I would probably join this kind of network.
Are you considering building this?

I have been thinking about it.

Through my own experiences and others, the whole disjointed aspect of people suffering with ASDs and those who know them is awful.

Also medical professionals and educational professionals have hard time keeping contact with them for a variety of reasons.

Lastly I've said researchers and the like have trouble engaging people with ASDs, which in turn slows the progression of treatments and discoveries.

Yeah I'd consider it, but isn't that sort of what this site is?

That sounds cool but you can do all those things on wrong planet as well. What sorts of features would this network have?

My answer would have been "Maybe," if you'd allowed it. It might give me a better chance of finding people with my intellectual interests. Otherwise, it wouldn't have any use for me. I'm very much a one on one person, and the social networks I've tried have been too cluttered and overwhelming with everyone wanting attention.

Actually WP is forum that is tad behind even in forum software.
Forums tend to be more of like sounding and posting boards via thread based topics.
Forums are better at specific topics.

Social media networks are more fluid and in real time, E.G. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn....
They are more personal as well.

We had plenty of Job and professional forums, but LinkedIn came along and essentially made them useless
Though many do coexist, but LinkedIn is far better than forums.
Their topic threads also receive tons of activity as well.

Facebook and Twitter are far better at connecting with people and communicating between users.
This is why companies prefer this over their own forums and traditional surveys.
Also you get real time updates and responses, without the need to refresh the page.

WP could easily coexist with it and be a place for specific discussion.
WP isn't the only ASD forum in existent.

With that said Autism Speaks, Autism Society of American, OASIS and others have a far greater influence and impact with the groups I've already mentioned compared to WP.
Their for a lack of better word, network of people are far more active and interconnected than WP.


It's just an idea I've been seriously considering...

Sounds like a good idea. Go ahead and set it up, I for one would use it.

I'm not sure how long it would take to build and whether or not I am able to get the resources to do it.

I plan to try soon, once I contact a few people I know.

I wonder what it would be like, because I am not into social media, I don't connect with people online eggsept on wp and a small tv show forum, and I don't know what specific actions people would do. It seems like the network could be taken over by a few popular members and the herd following them, which would be turn off for me. I don't want to be one of the popular members either. I am not sure what people would do in this network.

I just don't know making essentially an autism 'facebook' would get as much traffic as you're thinking. I mean a lot of people are quite satisfied with Facebook and/or twitter for those purposes, and would just assume look at autism pages on facebook...then spend much time on a kind of facebook knock off more autism themed. I mean I think part of what makes facebook so successful is its not a specific theme so it has traffic from all kinds of people...whearas what you are talking about seems like it would have a smaller audience thus not as much traffic and thus it might be rather slow.

Actually Facebook became popular because it offered more than MySpace and others in terms of features.

Though all is not well in Facebook world, due to people regularly being bullied for being different and such.
Facebook is literally the epicenter of cyber bulling.

I wasn't thinking of doing a Facebook rip, but more of something built to the uniqueness and safety of those with ASDs.
Plenty of people with disabilities of sorts get harassed and bullied by others just because of what they have.
Hell most people get bullied and harassed on Facebook now to the point of prompting laws.

Yet professionals do not use Facebook and Twitter to engage their patients, students, and others.
I mean researchers in theory should be having a field day engage people with ASDs, instead it doesn't work either.

do we really need another hugbox? this place seems like more than enough...

Preferably one in real time would be great...

I mean there are plenty of forums for ASDs, but nothing in real time for chatting and other forms of interaction with privacy...

Obviously it's not for everyone...