A widow and her blog

From the St. Petersburg Times-

Distraught over the loss of her husband, Robin Shwedo did the only thing she felt she could do all by herself: Start a Web log.

"It's got to start somewhere," said Shwedo, 53, whose husband, Paul Middleton, died at 71 last year after what Shwedo says was poor care at Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg. "I thought at least I could start to get some of my thoughts down and have some people look at it."

Shwedo's Web log, or "blog" for short, may help her share her grief, but it also puts her at the cutting edge of technology and trials.

"You create blogs to create a public perception," said David Johnson, CEO of Strategic Visions, an Atlanta public relations agency that has helped plaintiffs blog to force action. "It puts pressure on the hospital to settle."

Johnson didn't work on Shwedo's case, but he said he's seeing more examples of similar cases. He said the idea is in its infancy but is catching on because it works. Others see technology encroaching from other sides.

Using a blog to air your greivances is catching on. I do it here at TFM sometimes, airing my problems with deceptive prices at a seafood market, A diagnostic testing center that deliberately overcharges patients, to being stood up by a local housecleaning service, to warning people about a couple of junkmailing realtors. If you feel wronged by someone or some corporation, a blog can be the forum to get out your message. When unhappy with someone's service I warn them you could be on my blog. Like the home healthcare agency I'm now fighting if they don't fix a charge they made to my credit card, I will write them up.

If you have a legitimate greivance with someone, getting that out that info to others I feel is the right thing to do. There are just too many corporations and people who will try to take advantage of the uninformed. Information is a powerful weapon.

Here is a link to Robin Shwedo's Blog.

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