Twitter’s use in medicine
It has been interesting to read about how physicians and patients use Twitter. I have seen more bad then good ideas to say the least. It feels as if the people using it truly do not understand what they are doing. The limitation of character count forces what seems to be an unnatural conversation between users. Its almost as if Twitter is a live “awareness” service – “Hey everyone, look what I did, said, saw, heard, watched, went to, blah, blah, blah.” The conversation, as much as we would like it to be live in real time, is still a bit late. That being said, natural conversation cannot take place in this environment. For this very reason, I propose using Twitter more for things which do not rely on a back and forth between users such as linking to blogs, videos, photos, places, events, and people. This creates an awareness of things you are doing and are going on around you.
I read John Mayer’s Tumbler post explaining why he decided to stop using Twitter. He makes a very solid point. People are looking for ways to communicate things which matter to us. We want technology to help us create things which contain as much humanity as possible. I do not want to be referred to as a brand or a product. I want to be an artist of my own creative talents. Artists are those who take their passions and create. With this blog, I want to carefully create content that will have an impact and move. I am not trying to mimic anyone or anything. So as I relate to Mayer’s perspective, I think it best and wise to use Twitter to communicate our content as well as the people, places, and things we experience, until we find a way to truly create something substantial with it. Take a look at what Mayer had to say:
“Greetings from the land of complete thoughts and a strong sense of self worth!
A lot of you are wondering why I decided to quit Twitter. And I’m ready to explain it to you now that I’m off Twitter and can explain anything in a salient manner. It occurred to me that since the invocation of Twitter, nobody who has participated in it has created any lasting art. And yes! Yours truly is included in that roundup as well. Let me make sure that statement is as absolute and irrevocable as possible by buzzing your tower one more time: no artwork created by someone with a healthy grasp of social media thus far has proven to be anything other than disposable.
By now you’ve called up the fail whale and his birdie friends and told them to get their brass knuckles ready cause a fight is fixin’ to go down. But hear me out.
Has any artist, since they’ve begun to give you daily insights into their life created their best work yet? Are the best writers of our time on Twitter? You rip Tina Fey for shitting on the construct but she’s busy penning the best show on television. Aaron Sorkin says he’s never used Facebook, a statement that the guardians of the internet are up at arms over, yet he makes an artistic contribution that the media sites are talking about so much that they’ve developed that gross white stuff at the corners of their mouths. (What is that stuff?)
Those who decide to remain offline will make better work than those online. Why? Because great ideas have to gather. They have to pass the test of withstanding thirteen different moods, four different months and sixty different edits. Anything less is day trading. You can either get a bunch of mentions now or change someone’s life next year.
Hey, I didn’t make the rules. I’m just telling you what I’m pretty sure they are.
I’m not knocking Twitter for those who are trying to make a name for themselves. Some people need all the RTs they can get today. But for those who have already established themselves it’s a slow erosion of the artistic notion.
Great art has survived the changes in technology, from wax cylinder to tape to Pro Tools and beyond, but this is different. This affects the writing, the conception. You want to know the best way a musician can start making shit music? If they start referring to themselves as a “brand.” I’d rather hear an artist refer to themselves in the third person than as a “brand.” Jif peanut butter is a brand. A singer is a soul. People who think of themselves as a “brand” subsequently refer to themselves as “marketing” their “brand”. And when you convert your art into the art of real-time brand management, I suddenly have no more interest in it. I don’t respect marketing alone. Anybody can market something now. And that’s cool. When it’s time to market something.
I’m not a brand, and I don’t refer to myself in the third person. I’m a dude who plays guitar and writes songs. When I’m done writing and recording them I will market them. Luckily for those who are cracking their knuckles ready to knock my point of view, that won’t be for a while. Because good shit takes a long time.
And this is going to take a very long time.
Currently listening to: everything
XO
JM”
So when people wonder why my narrative has taken some time to ferment, I might direct them to this very point. Valuable art and content take some processing time, planning, and introspective scrutiny. Physicians are just as much artists, medicine is an aged art form, and our approach to our profession should continue to embrace this very idea. Certainly there are times when information is regurgitant and needs to be quickly passed along. I am not objecting to that exchange, what I am suggesting is people take each medium and use it in a way which amplifies its innate abilities. Look for ways to make it your own. If it doesn’t suit your needs don’t force it. People can tell when you aren’t sincere even in a tweet.
