Dear Sara,Good wishes to you on your new blog but would you mind making ONE important change to its title, please?
You call it "the Spasmodic Dysphonia blog." Would you mind changing the title to "MY Spasmodic Dysphonia blog?"
Because many of us have advocated on behalf of voice patients and research for many years and because many people have blogs, it's important NOT to give the impression (on Google, or any seach engine) that you or any of us is the consummate authority on SD. By saying "the," you are giving the impression in the search engines that you are THE expert.
A blog is a blog. Web log. A personal diary. Thus, "my" is much more appropriate for your blog, so that new patients do not become confused when searching the Internet.
Example: My son is currently in Iraq on his second tour and has a blog sharing his impressions of what is going on there. He does not call it "THE Iraq War blog."
It's important to share feelings about one's vocal/medical journey so I applaud you on starting your blog but I've had severe SD for 17 years, and helped many voice patients along the way over the past 10 years, and have had cancer for one year and advocated for cancer patient. But, a blog saying "the SD blog" or "the cancer blog" would not be a good idea. Can you change it, so people understand - when finding it on a search - that it is merely your experience, and not authoritative or medically expert?
Thanks and best wishes,
Lynne (AD-SD; RLN surgery; PVFM - breathing; Northern California)
PS: To get more info on what I'm talking about, many people all over the world now consider Scott Adams an expert on SD (if you read blogs) only because he mentioned his own case online in his Dilbert blog. I was shocked to read various blogs commenting on his, when he mentioned "curing" his SD. I frankly believe this is very dangerous for anyone researching vocal disorders, and SD specifically. Please be VERY careful to not appear to be a medical expert. Changing "the" to "my" would help a lot.
