I recall joining Lactnet about the time that I sat for my first IBCLC exam ('08). I specifically remember one local IBCLC first telling me about it. I also recall many others talking about it at an ILCA conference, further promoting my curiosity.  I silently listened and read for several years before I got brave enough to make a post (that part about "public" and "forever" can be very intimidating).  But, I soon discovered that my posts were welcomed and generally well received.  Lactnet exposes me to a variety of topics, problems, dilemmas and situations more broad and vast than my own practice ever could. It frequently serves as a preliminary fact-finding source for an out-of-my-ordinary situation.  It has empowered my clinical decision making skills at times I was feeling isolated and vulnerable.  It adds credibility to my practice when I mention blogging "almost daily" with thousands of other lactation professionals around the world.  It connects me personally with the mentors and peers who continually shape my lactation knowledge base - both then and now.  And, I admit that I am one of the guilty ones who has partially abandoned it because of facebook.  Comparatively, I MUCH prefer this format over the facebook format.  But, the instant gratification of online discussion is tempting.  A facebook group can be difficult to search for previously discussed topics, especially because most of the interesting conversation usually follows a specific post as comments to that post. Topics of conversation can progress and change frequently and I often miss entire topics just be failing to check my updates multiple times throughout a day.  With Lactnet, I always get the luxury of browsing all topics of conversation at my leisure.  I would also like to add that my primary source of facebook lactation support these days usually comes from private groups specific to my own practice needs, rather than the facebook lactnet group (of which I am a member).  Because I know that the target audience is in a similar practice situation as myself and that my posts are NOT readable by the general public, I find myself a lot more willing to post more often and about a wider variety of topics. I too have observed how LACTNET feeds have slowly dwindled and often thought that I should make a better effort to get back into it and utilize it more frequently. So, after having followed this interesting thread, I am now properly motivated to make a better effort in the future.  There absolutely is value to this list.  It is a part of my IBCLC practice and should always continue to be too.

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