There's been an interesting development in the deaf blogosphere over the past year - it has become very diverse. We're seeing thoughts and discussion from and between both deaf and Deaf community members, and a major factor in making this happen has been the inclusive policies at DeafRead. Deaf, hard of hearing, CI users, oralists, parents of deaf children, CODAs, interpreters and teachers are all sharing their perspective.

In reality, the community has always been this diverse. Only recently did it become possible for us to see our community so clearly AND easily interact with the many different faces in it. Prior to the rise of blogs and vlogs, each camp tended to stick together, take potshots at each other and defend against accusations from other groups.

That's still happening, but less so than before. Vlogger Barb Digi recently cited a DeafLife survey on acceptance of CI users in the deaf community. 72% of those responding now say the deaf community should not reject CI users. This number is almost certainly a large increase from 5 years ago. We are changing.

Increasing familiarity with CI users is one driver of this change. The results of cochlear implants are uneven - some people have found them helpful, others have not. All implantees have their story, and the deaf community has come to recognize that CI users face many of the same social barriers with hearing people. We could maintain a closed, deaf version of apartheid - Deaf here, CI users there. But we're not doing that. We've become more inclusive. As a result, our community network has grown.

This is not to say that our newfound online communication jamfest is going to make us one big happy family. There are still very real and profound differences of opinion. Debate will continue, tempers will flare, mud will fly. But over time, we're all going to understand each other better. Over time, some militant views will moderate. Over time, the rough edges of conflict will become streamlined.

Why does this matter? Because when we talk to each other, the balance of understanding and disagreement shifts. Disagreement is still there, and in some areas remains sharp and strong, but understanding takes up a greater portion of the whole.

The size of the deaf community is directly related to the amount of understanding and acceptance within it. Indeed, the deaf community is largely defined by who is accepted as part of it. That definition can be narrow or broad. It is up to each of us individually to decide whether we should be inclusive or exclusive.

We have an economic interest in a broader community. Jobs, business, skills - all of these become more widely available in larger numbers. The value of any network is tied to how many people are connected to the network. The reason the Internet has grown so large and spread so fast is because it's the first network in human history that can connect every single person on the planet. Before the Net, there were phones, but the limit to growth among phone users was language. Now there's online language translation.

As blogs and vlogs have grown, so has the deaf community's network. The number of people you know, even if only online, is greater than you knew 10 years ago. In many cases, your knowledge is also deeper - you know who they are, what they look like, where they live, what interests you share, what views you have in common. That network is valuable - it opens up more connections to work opportunities, potential business partners, new ways to build your own business, new sources of capital for starting a business, advisors and mentors, and just people to kick around ideas.

The classic job-hunting advice is to network, network, network. Our network is expanding, and will continue to grow as long as we choose to encourage that growth.

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