Someone asked me yesterday if I had noticed a change in how people use Twitter at ACEP’s Scientific Assembly over the years. In a word: yes. So much has changed and grown. In fact, I still remember the first ad hoc in-person meet-up of Twitter users back at ACEP13 in Seattle, Washington. There were literally fewer than 10 of us sitting around a table having breakfast, trying to figure out how we could convince people in emergency medicine that social media was even worthwhile. We were confident that social media use in medicine and medical education would grow but we had no inkling that five years later, it would be so central to the conference-going experience of ACEP’s membership.

One of the most welcome developments has been the increasing interactivity of social media. Social media that is actually social? What a concept! A few years ago, it was actually not uncommon for multiple people to live-tweet the same lecture, in much the same ways. It was as if we were all living in parallel universes and not really interacting. These days, however, experienced tweeps know that if one person is live-tweeting a lecture, the rest of us don’t have to. We can chime in with comments, questions, and ideas.

Dr. Liam Yore (@movinmeat, still one of the greatest twitter handles ever), tweeted out “Hey #ACEP18 Twitter. Here’s a fun game. Tweet the name of a drug shortage you’ve had to grapple with in the last month. I’ll start: Fluorescein.” Dr. Howie Mell (@DrHowieMell) responded, “Diltiazem IV, ondansetron IV, dilaudid IV (nubain, and morphine too) and, most recently, injectable diazepam.” Dr. Ilene Benator (@irb123) added “Valium IM, reglan, compazine, hydralazine. Morphine.” I personally responded to Dr. Benator, adding, “Sadly, I find it difficult to do the Goldfrank’s Toxicology valium-based approach to alcohol withdrawal without, you know, actual valium available!” Dr. Dink Jardine (@dinkjardine) tweeted, “Sumatriptan, lidocaine, ofloxicin. Not [at] #ACEP18 but was feeling left out of the cool kids table,” again proving that you don’t need to be here in person to get in on the action.

This thread ended up being disconcertingly long, precisely because the problem of drug shortages has become so rampant here in the United States. But Judd Hollander
(@JuddHollander) won the mic-drop prize for cleverness with a simple reply. The critical shortage he has noticed? “Turkey (as in sandwich).” I had to ask Dr. Hollander if they put his hospital on diversion when they run out of those. So far, no reply.

Another welcome development both on Twitter and in real life has been the increasing prominence of high profile and successful women in emergency medicine. Metrics from Symplur (a social media data website) indicate that Dr. Esther Choo (@choo_ek) and Dr. Megan Ranney (@MeganRanney) are among the top five individual influencers here in San Diego. They, along with Dr. Dara Kass (@DaraKass), seem to be this year’s most noticed Twitter celebrities. Whether tweeting or talking about gender and race equity in medicine (Dr. Choo), common sense gun safety and research (Dr. Ranney), or mentoring and launching the next generation of women in emergency medicine (Dr. Kass), it’s great to see these thought leaders getting the recognition they deserve.

Don’t forget to keep those #ACEP18 tweets coming!