What's the Difference Between MacularDegeneration.net's Facebook Page and Website?

Last month, I was chatting with my mom and her heart was heavy for a new friend who is having some pretty serious issues with vision loss. Her friend was looking for some help and support not knowing vision loss had touched my mom’s life as well.

The universe has our backs

I truly believe that the universe places each of us right where we need to be, especially during difficult times in our lives. MacularDegeneration.net is just what my mom’s friend needed. With my history and involvement in our amazing community here at MacularDegeneration.net, my mom knew I could help guide her friend in the right direction.

Two places, one community

While we were chatting, I realized that for some ‘things’ I was directing help to our Facebook page and for other ‘things,’ I was directing help toward our website, www.MacularDegeneration.net. I think the differences are important and may not be well known, so I thought I’d write about the ins and outs of our two different platforms.

Which should a person join?

Anyone interested in joining one group should join both our Facebook page and website in my opinion, but there are a few differences between the two that are worth noting.

First, I think it’s important to note that neither of our pages are just for people suffering from macular degeneration: MMD, ARMD (AMD), or Stargardt’s. Though we do place emphasis on those specific diagnoses, our page is for anyone who is struggling with any type of vision loss. As well as anyone who loves or cares for someone struggling with any type of vision loss.

Information overload

As my mom and I were going through the MacularDegeneration.net website I remembered how overwhelming it can be to first start researching a new diagnosis.

When a person is first diagnosed with macular degeneration (or any illness or disease), a common thing for us to do is start researching. I’m not sure about other diagnoses, but the beginning research stages of macular degeneration equals information overload!

Our website

That’s where our website comes in handy! If a person types MacularDegeneration.net into their search bar on their web browser, the very first site that comes up is ours! It says: Macular Degeneration Health Info & Community.

The search bar

There are two main things I personally love about our website. The first is that you can type any main words or phrases in the search bar, like hallucinations, vitamins, or diagnosis. All of the articles that pertain to your search quickly pop up for you to read. This is an amazing tool for anyone who is researching or looking for more information on any specific topic.

My mom’s friend isn’t yet sure what specifically is wrong with her eyes, but as we were going through articles and tabs on our website we realized that much of our information is really helpful for anyone. Looking for mental health support or information on eye-healthy foods to eat? Maybe you’re interested in learning more about a specific eye ailment like cataracts or retinal tears. You can find it all here with a quick search.

Share your story

The second thing I love about our website is that you can share your story with our community and team members. You can also ask questions on our different forums. Have you been wanting to share your story? Maybe ask a question or just vent? Needing help with something but don’t know where to start? This is the place for you! Anyone can do these things easily by registering and logging in.

Our Facebook page

Our Facebook page is a social media platform, so we have many more members in this community. It’s simple to ‘like’ our page and automatically get our most recent articles and polls to pop up right in your news feed. This is an amazing way to not miss anything from our community.

Sharing information

You can also easily tag friends or share articles to your wall from our Facebook page!

When you see an article that appeals to you, you simply click and read...and if it doesn’t, you can just keep scrolling. You can also easily comment on these articles and reply to comments from other community members, connecting us all by experience and opinion.

Polls and questionnaires

Our polls and questionnaires are on both of our pages. These polls and questionnaires are important to us. They give us pertinent information about what our community members want to know more about. Also, they give us data so we can all better understand our community’s needs.

Empathy & communication helps guide us

Because of her willingness to be open and vulnerable with my mom and to communicate with her about her struggles with vision loss, my mom’s friend was able to get unexpected help and support. Likewise, if my mom wasn’t empathetic or willing to listen and communicate with her friend, she may still be looking for the support she needed.

This is another reminder for us all that communication is so important in relationships.

If you have any questions on how to join either of our pages, please ask! We are here to help.

Andrea Junge