Does Healthcare need Twitter? Well Twitter can sure use some additional healthcare folks. When I began using Twitter I didn’t give it much thought and actually didn’t know what the real purpose was of letting others know where you are or simply typing in an update.
Well enter RSS feeds and Twitter took on a whole new look, Micro Blogging! All my blog posts go in to Twitter and I also used FriendFeed, and all the Twitter comments are shown in the FriendFeed wall, so you really get more coverage for your blog. Also, subscribing to and reading other blogs is a cinch as well. The next part is the ability to interact. If you are familiar with instant messaging, you will understand, except all your comments are out there for everyone who follows you to see, except if you send a private message. Most conversations that I have seen are public. When you watch the slide show below you will see all the major cancer centers set up and using Twitter for a simple example.
You also have the option to make your interactions private, in other words share them with only those you select, which might be the case for a business set up where everything is not meant to be public. There are many versions of software clients now that you can use with Twitter as well, even on cell phones and it works quite well. It had a few rough days in the first few months, but the bug and new interface recently added have been pretty good. Take a look at the slide show and see how Twitter can be used for reminders, you can track packages with UPS and FedEx too this way. The possibilities just keep coming. You can use the link on the site here to visit Twitter and get set up as well. Twitter has connected me to many individuals and websites that I would not have found otherwise. BD
Joshua Schwimmer, MD, FACP, FASN: Twittering for public health. PF Anderson, a health care librarian that I also follow on Twitter, posted a presentation on "Twittering for Public Health".
0 comments :
Post a Comment