A continuing series on physician online reputation. For more KevinMD minutes, please visit my YouTube channel.
Why should doctors use Twitter?
One compelling reason is to curate information. Did you know that there are 20 million articles on Medline and the volume of medical literature grows by 10 percent every year? Just a few years ago, there were 24,000 new cancer articles, and it’s impossible to keep up with all this knowledge.
One way is on Twitter, because on Twitter you can follow thought leaders in any area of medicine and health care. You can listen to what they have to say. You can read the articles that they share. I check Twitter dozens of times a day, and to me, it’s one of the most powerful ways I can think of to stay up to date in any area of medicine and health care.
That’s a great reason why doctors should use Twitter.
Kevin Pho is an internal medicine physician and co-author of Establishing, Managing, and Protecting Your Online Reputation: A Social Media Guide for Physicians and Medical Practices. He is on the editorial board of contributors, USA Today, and is founder and editor, KevinMD.com, also on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.
