DES Daughter Network is the little sister of Diethylstilbestrol, Journal of a DES Daughter but focuses on social media and social networking. The purpose of this blog is to share the latest DES news and updates from around the world as and when they are published all under one “roof”, one social media platform. It features and displays the social networks where DES groups and myself have a social media presence to further raise awareness of the DES cause and connect the dots between existing organizations.

Why a new blog?

Around the world, thousands, maybe millions of people are totally unaware that they were exposed to diethylstilbestrol (or DES), a toxic and carcinogenic drug. All of these people are not receiving proper medical treatment, or making truly informed decisions about their healthcare, as a result.

How do you reach out to these people?  One answer which immediately came to my mind when I started writing my Journal of a DES Daughter is through the use of social media and social networking.

Nowadays, social media and social networking tools are vital to building a strong online presence. The use of social media is stronger than ever. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr are just some of the popular forms of social media used by millions around the world on a daily basis. Chances are, anyone you speak to today has at least one, if not more of these accounts.

To me, social media is simply the easiest, fastest and cheapest, yet effective way to raise DES awareness.

The 4 “C’s of Social Media for the DES cause
Connect, Contribute, Collaborate, Change

• Connect: DES, like social media, is about people. People affected by this drug disaster often feel lonely and would benefit from connecting with other DES victims.
• Contribute: DES information needs to be instantly available to the public to generate an instant reaction and increase awareness.
• Collaborate: DES is a worldwide tragedy. DES information, studies and data need to be shared to better understand the full extent of the health issues associated with DES exposure. Social media increases potential for collaboration.
• Change: The DES story needs to be told not just through studies, statistics, numbers and figures but through real life experiences. The collective voice of DES victims on social media platforms can bring about change. Lessons must be learned so that history doesn’t repeat itself.

Despite the number of people affected by the DES tragedy and the hard work of DES support groups and activists, the DES cause is going unnoticed, or not noticed enough amongst the general public. The use of social media has the ability to change this. In today’s fast-moving world, we will make a difference and bring about change only if we connect, contribute, and collaborate.