Hashtag Hullabaloo

#HashtagHullabaloo

Hashtag
Hullabaloo

words: #ysuWords

Hashtags are so important to this project, we put one in our name. 

If you follow our social media or seen any of our videos and graphics, the chances are you’ve spotted us using the same hashtags since we came online in September 2016. 

But, why have we been pushing them so hard?  Read on, ysuTribe...

The more of us using the same hashtags, the easier to find and more amplified

our voices become.

Hashtags unify our

individual messages - 

we could fill social media

and search feeds simply by

all using the same ones.

Unify & Amplify
It's really very simple - and effective.  If you’ve clicked on a hashtag on Facebook, or searched one on Twitter, Ecosia (you search, they plant trees) or Google, you’ll know that you’re taken to a list of things using that hashtag. 

Think about that for a second.

The more of us using the same hashtags, the easier to find and more amplified they become. Hashtags unify our individual messages - and we could fill social media and search feeds simply by all using the same ones.

Remember, we are a not-for-profit group, and we’ll never ask you for personal donations. We want to create a Network and shine The Spotlight on whoever needs it most - we don’t want it for ourselves. That's why we're anonymous. It's not about us.  

It's about our illnesses and the changes we all need.  

Now. 

Hashtags unify our 
individual messages.
We could fill news and 
search feeds by all 
using the same ones.

Universal 
The unification and amplification that we want to develop is the reason behind some of more general hashtags. 

All of our hashtags can be used universally, covering lots of different aspects of living with illnesses like Ehlers-Danlos and Hypermobility Disorders (the axis of the project) and other Disabilities. 

#InstitutionalAbuse, for example, can be used to tag stories about medical abuses surrounding Invisible Illnesses and Disabilities, but it can also be used for more political issues, like government decisions impacting on State Benefits and financial aid offered to (or more often taken from) some of the most vulnerable people in our world,
It could cover Health Insurance issues or cases of Medical Kidnap, which the Ehlers-Danlos and Hypermobility Community is seeing in increasing numbers.  

Things don't have to be this dramatic for you to be able to use #InstitutionalAbuse.

  • Have you been refused entry to public transport because of your wheelchair? That's not permitted - and it's Institutional Abuse.  
  • Are you unable to find a suitable home because you need a wheelchair? 
  • Can't get the treatment you need because the hospital doesn't have wheelchair accessible facilities for you? 
  • Can't get the treatment you need because you can't get funding and you can't afford to pay privately?
  • Doctors misdiagnosing you because of their own lack of knowledge, biases or ego?

It's all Institutional Abuse, despite the many laws existing that are meant to protect us. 

If you have a hashtag you'd like us to use for a personal fundraising campaign, story or awareness drive (smaller groups, individuals and businesses only), just let us know and we'll do our best to put it across our social media and encourage others to use it. 

Let's unite and take over those news and search feeds with a Hashtag Hullabaloo!

I wanted to make a 
Call-And-Response situation. Reach out to those who don’t have illnesses by asking 
Will You See Us?

What’s in a name?
The first two hashtags the creator of the #ysuProject came up with were #WillYouSeeUs? and #WeSeeYou. 

You can find out more about that and what's behind the project in Dear #ysuTribe...,  an open letter from our Head Honcho (HH). The basic idea behind these two, though, is straightforward. 

Ehlers-Danlos and Hypermobility Disorders are illnesses that often cause numerous other comditions in the same body.  Our project creator explains...

“I wanted to make a Call-And-Response situation. Give those of us with Invisible Illnesses and disabilities the chance to reach out to those who don’t, by asking will you see us? 
The people who don’t have any illnesses can then help and support those of us who do by sharing content online, responding with #WeSeeYou.

As a community, we’re trying desperately - and we have been for decades - to help ourselves and others. 

To really make the difference we need, we need to fight in a new way. 

I think some 'normal' bodied people want to help us all, they just don’t know how to. Sharing something online with #WeSeeYou is a very easy and effective way of helping. It’s free and it takes minutes. 

You help lift an entire hidden, suffering population by doing that, by seeing our struggles and acknowledging them. Even just with a hashtag. Change doesn’t take much, it just takes numbers.

I believe this. This is why I started #YouSeeUs". 

Read more about the inspiration behind #YouSeeUs and why our creator started it in, ‘Dear #ysuTribe…’.

We truly believe together we can prove Ignorance Is No Excuse - and put an end to Institutional Abuse.

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