Logo

Log In Sign Up |  An official publication of: American College of Emergency Physicians
Navigation
  • Home
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • Clinical
    • Airway Managment
    • Case Reports
    • Critical Care
    • Guidelines
    • Imaging & Ultrasound
    • Pain & Palliative Care
    • Pediatrics
    • Resuscitation
    • Trauma & Injury
  • Resource Centers
    • mTBI Resource Center
  • Career
    • Practice Management
      • Benchmarking
      • Reimbursement & Coding
      • Care Team
      • Legal
      • Operations
      • Quality & Safety
    • Awards
    • Certification
    • Compensation
    • Early Career
    • Education
    • Leadership
    • Profiles
    • Retirement
    • Work-Life Balance
  • Columns
    • ACEP4U
    • Airway
    • Benchmarking
    • Brief19
    • By the Numbers
    • Coding Wizard
    • EM Cases
    • End of the Rainbow
    • Equity Equation
    • FACEPs in the Crowd
    • Forensic Facts
    • From the College
    • Images in EM
    • Kids Korner
    • Medicolegal Mind
    • Opinion
      • Break Room
      • New Spin
      • Pro-Con
    • Pearls From EM Literature
    • Policy Rx
    • Practice Changers
    • Problem Solvers
    • Residency Spotlight
    • Resident Voice
    • Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine
    • Sound Advice
    • Special OPs
    • Toxicology Q&A
    • WorldTravelERs
  • Resources
    • ACEP.org
    • ACEP Knowledge Quiz
    • Issue Archives
    • CME Now
    • Annual Scientific Assembly
      • ACEP14
      • ACEP15
      • ACEP16
      • ACEP17
      • ACEP18
      • ACEP19
    • Annals of Emergency Medicine
    • JACEP Open
    • Emergency Medicine Foundation
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Medical Editor in Chief
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Awards
    • Authors
    • Article Submission
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright Information

Medical Conversations are on Twitter, not Facebook, and That’s Good

By Iltifat Husain, M.D. | on July 1, 2013 | 0 Comment
Opinion
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Print-Friendly Version

When Twitter initially launched I was largely skeptical on how it could be utilized in medicine. Initially I thought Facebook was a better option due to the ability to use more than 140 characters. Over time, though, it has become clear the medical conversations are happening on Twitter, not Facebook.

You Might Also Like
  • #ACEP15 Likely to be Popular Trending Topic on Twitter
  • Free Open Access Medical Resources Beyond Twitter
  • Free Open Access Medical Education Twitter Authors Appear in Top Peer-Reviewed Journals
Explore This Issue
ACEP News: Vol 32 – No 07 – July 2013

An example of this is when [iMedicalApps] highlighted the #FOAMed movement – Free Open Access to Medicine Education.

We highlighted how physicians around the country are using Twitter and social media to teach and learn in a dynamic way. In particular, we referenced 11 critical FOAMed resources for emergency medicine. Nowhere was Facebook mentioned.

I think that’s a good thing, mainly because Facebook’s privacy settings are so nebulous. Over time I’ve come to realize Facebook is starting to turn into the old Internet Explorer – bloated. Twitter is simple, straightforward, and you’re not worried about messing around with various profile settings due to updated policies every few months. Even though I was an early adopter of Facebook, getting an account during college months after its launch, I stopped using it a few months ago and haven’t looked back.

On my news feed in Twitter, not only can I keep up to date on the latest medical literature, but I also can see debates between my fellow physicians about the various literature in real-time.

I would argue there is a higher level of peer review that happens on Twitter at times than by some of the largest medical journals. You don’t see this high level of medical conversation on Facebook. Instead you get status updates about people’s miscellaneous thoughts or another invite to some random event you don’t plan on attending.

Further, Facebook doesn’t carry the medical conversation forward – it’s too declarative. Twitter is not.

Grown up medical conversations are happening on Twitter, not Facebook.

This blog originally appeared at iMedicalApps (www.imedicalapps.com/2013/04/social-media-emergency-medicine-education-essential-free-resources-foam/).


Dr. Husain blogs at iMedicalApps and can be found on Twitter at @iltifatMD.

Topics: BloggEDCMECommentaryEmergency MedicineEmergency PhysicianSocial MediaTechnology

Related

  • June 2025 News from the College

    June 5, 2025 - 0 Comment
  • EM Runs in the Family

    February 26, 2025 - 0 Comment
  • Tread Cautiously with Artificial Intelligence in Clinical Scenarios

    July 8, 2024 - 0 Comment

Current Issue

ACEP Now: June 2025 (Digital)

Read More

No Responses to “Medical Conversations are on Twitter, not Facebook, and That’s Good”

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*
*

Wiley
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertise
  • Cookie Preferences
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 2333-2603