Do you have a cyber shoulder?

Being disabled can sometimes leave you lonely, isolated, cut off from your community or just bored. Cyber shoulder, is something that, well, we have created.

Today, most communication is done via text or messenger, not many people pick up the phone anymore and have long conversations. The way we communicate has changed, but sometimes you just need someone to talk to. To have a say and just unload on to someone who knows you but does not know you if you get the meaning.

This is where cyber shoulders, comes in to play. I have hundreds of friends on Facebook, most of them I have not seen in decades. Excluding family, there are about ten people on my Facebook page I see regularly. The rest are people I bump into on occasion or down the pub. However, what surprises me is that I have lots of cyber shoulder friends.

If you live on Facebook, when you’re in a bad mood or having a bad day and post something online, you get inundated with people asking if your ok. This happened to a Facebook friend of mine recently. We live in an online world and when people post unhappy thoughts and feelings, people get concerned as most of the post on social media are usually families having a good time or funny incidences.

It is really nice, that people are looking out for you, but it also turns into an online friendship and not one in the real world. That is why we have called it ‘Cyber Shouldering’, you can instantly see if there online and want to chat and you can have a chat with them about anything.

This is not just great for people with disabilities, there are advantages for anyone having a bad day or feeling isolated as many people do.

Last week the government announced it is trying to tackle loneliness in the British community. Cyber Shouldering may not be the answer, but it is a start.