Spotlight: DinDin

Spotlight: DinDin Moderates: BirthControl and Am_I_Pregnant LiveJournal Communities since 2004 Women's health advocate for: 15 years

How did you become a moderator for the BirthControl and Am_I_Pregnant LiveJournal Communities?

I kind of fell into it, actually. I kept seeing so much bad information being perpetuated, I was drawn in to answer questions correctly. Around 2004 I started running a community and eventually broke off to create Am_I_Pregnant. Then in 2006 I started moderating BirthControl. It’s so important to me to have places where women can get accurate information.

Any surprises in managing these groups?

I’ve been most surprised by the amount of fear that still exists - both about getting pregnant and about using birth control. Growing up I had reasonable access to health information, so I take it for granted. It’s sad and scary how many women don’t have basic information.

What's causing the problem?

I think it stems from the double-standard we have about sex in the U.S. Sex is all over the place, but we don’t talk about it openly and honestly. Kids aren’t getting information at school, or they’re getting the wrong information, and they can’t talk to their parents about it, or sometimes their parents don’t even know the facts. And instead of helping, the Internet has become one big rumor mill. Those who’ve grown up with the Internet haven’t been taught how to discern good sources from bad.

Do you address women's health issues in your personal blog?

Sometimes, but I tend to be a lot more political, passionate and lately a lot more angry. The past eight years have been so frustrating in terms of women’s health in the United States and the world. President Bush has used the presidency to promote his religious views, stifle comprehensive sex education and affordable access to contraception, chip away at abortion rights, and force other countries to accept his views if they want U.S. aid. He’s appointed people to positions of power who don’t believe in the right to choose, or even contraception for unmarried women, if at all.
We all need to be aware of what’s going on and become active citizens and voters. Overall, my communities are informational rather than political. But I will invest some political information in BirthControl in the next few months because I think this year’s presidential election is so important.

What are the 10 most frequently asked questions in your communities?

In no particular order, they are:

1) How soon am I protected (really)?
2) Am I protected during my placebo week?
3) I'm bleeding during the month, what do I do?
4) Is feeling like "this" normal?
5) I'm taking a generic now, what is that?
6) What medications will interfere with my birth control?
7) What brand should I take/switch to?
8) Will the pill make me gain weight?
9) What do I do if I miss pills?
10) Can I safely skip my period?

What do you wish people would stop asking you?

Oh, gosh. I wish people would stop asking me if they’re going to have different side effects or protection when they switch to a generic version, or between generics. It’s just like buying the CVS or Walgreens brand of pain reliever instead of Tylenol or Advil. It may not look the same, but it’s exactly the same medicine.

What frustrates you most in the birth control community?

I’m most frustrated by poor information, particularly from other parts of the online women’s health community. An idea can take hold and spread like wildfire without facts to back it up. This causes tremendous fear and confusion. We can see very quickly when a particular idea is being promoted elsewhere, because it bleeds into our communities and we wind up doing a lot of explaining and citing sources.

Can you give an example of this?

Sure. Take for example implantation bleeding – the bit of spotting or light bleeding that women sometimes get very early in pregnancy. I’m not sure why, but lately women see any amount of blood and think that it’s implantation bleeding. It's become an urban myth, so that now even getting your period supposedly doesn't prove you aren’t pregnant.
It’s common and normal for women’s periods to get lighter when they’re on HBC, and in some cases non-period bleeding is also normal. But instead women are jumping to the conclusion that they’re having implantation bleeding.

What is the best feedback you've received?

When someone says I’ve been helpful, that they’ve learned something and I’ve eased their mind. It’s the most wonderful feeling to know you’ve helped and that they’ll know what to do the next time they have a problem.

Do you ever have trouble keeping up?

It can feel very overwhelming sometimes, yes. It’s either feast or famine in terms of posts coming in. I’m so grateful to our fabulous co-moderators and to the other women who contribute.

Do any of your professional skills help your moderating? Has moderating impacted your professional life?

Absolutely, it’s a two-way street. In both aspects of my life I’ve had to learn better communication skills, tolerance and patience; you can never have enough of all three. In my “real life,” I deal with managing training, and often work with people off-site whom I may never meet. So both jobs help me work effectively with people when we’re not face to face.

What birth control research interests you?

I’m really excited by the research on different dosing regimens. We already have Seasonale and Seasonique, which use an 84/7 cycle, and Loestrin24FE and Yaz which use a 24 /4 cycle. Soon, hopefully we’ll know what works best in terms of cycle control and side effects, and women will be able to choose what works best for them and know it’s safe and effective.

Why do traditional pills use the 21/7 cycle?

The standard 21 /7 cycle is completely arbitrary and medically unnecessary. It was created in 1954 to allow for a menstrual period – the thinking was that a birth control pill would only be accepted if it didn’t seem to interfere with a “normal” menstrual cycle. Today, more and more women are interested in using hormonal birth control (HBC) to control their cycles and skip their periods – both for health reasons and convenience. Either way, drug manufacturers are finally becoming receptive to women’s wants and needs.

Who do you admire in the women's health community?

I’m a fan of Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and former deputy chief of staff for Senator Nancy Pelosi. She’s been a great leader for this organization, which continues to be a leading voice in keeping our reproductive rights safe.

What are your biggest challenges in running an online group?

What’s tricky is that you’re not dealing with people in person. You’re trying to get feedback from people who don’t necessarily communicate well in writing; you can’t hear or reciprocate tone of voice, which can be reassuring.

Health communities are especially challenging because people are more concerned and scared; the stakes are higher. Also, you’re mostly dealing with facts, not opinions. I take pride that my communities give out correct information, so there’s real work involved.

Learn more about DinDin.

Who inspires you? Let us know who we should feature in our next Spotlight Interview. Write us at community@wegohealth.com