I use Twitter a lot. Interacting with thoughtful people is fun and I am learning a bunch. I especially love learning from the stats people and the philosophers.
But Twitter has downsides. The main one is that it’s ephemeral. You see something and think, gosh, that is great, but It’s hard to go back to find the thread.
Another downside of Twitter is that even though we can use more characters, it’s still hard to express your ideas.
Medicine has many caveats. Sometimes terse messages lead to misunderstandings.
So I am planning to jot things down on this blog more often.
I’ll tag things so I can go back to it. Fast writing is fun.
I’ll still use Twitter, and I hope you follow me there.
I am at @drjohnmÂ
JMM
4 replies on “Downsides of Twitter”
I just finished reading your Medscape article about medical hubris and the elderly.
Exquisite and very eloquent writing, Dr. M, that could never be presented satisfactorily via Twitter.
Twitter prose, now all-too-common usage, often seems more like Tourette’s syndrome or–Copralalia–a term I just ran into, than any form of rational discourse.
I am glad you are considering migrating back to your blog. I have enjoyed it tremendously over the years and learned a lot. And, for this old lady, it is much easier to understand than scattershot, garbled Twitter.
Thanks
I agree with Joan.
It’s been a week since you’ve posted the eminently readable post on experts. I do hope you haven’t abandoned this format.
Why not expand on the harm labeling a patient here instead of scattershooting on twitter?
I find it amazing that you are so open on using Twitter and that you share your experience with it! With Twitter you can get all the information you want, you are always up t date, and you can learn so much or find out when a next conference takes place, but the only problem it is so time consuming. However, in Austria there are very less Twitter users amongst doctors.