Twitter (X) in Medicine: Friend or Foe to the Field of Interventional Cardiology?

Mohammad Rana, Grace Sorger, David Cox, George Dangas, Farshad Forouzandeh (2023) Twitter (X) in Medicine: Friend or Foe to the Field of Interventional Cardiology? J Soc Cardiovasc Angiogr Interv 2(6Part A) 101136

Abstract

Twitter, which recently changed its name to "X," is a popular social media platform that is used widely across the world due to its easy accessibility through the internet. Due to more public familiarity, we referred to this social media platform as "Twitter (X)" in this article. Users can create posts, also called as "tweets" with a limitation of 280 characters and can add images, videos, and weblinks. While there are several social media platforms used by health care professionals, eg, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Periscope, Twitter (X) is an extremely popular platform among physicians, especially cardiologists. Due to its persistent growth and ever-expanding outreach, Twitter (X) is facilitating dissemination of scientific information including complex medical knowledge leading the way in collaborations, and in organizing and networking of various health care professionals, patients, and caregivers with shared medical interests. While there are several advantages of Twitter (X) as an important tool in our contemporary medical armamentarium, there are also some drawbacks. False information can be distributed effortlessly and can entrench unscientific beliefs as there is no peer-review process. Occasionally, discourteous discussions between health care professionals can be misinterpreted by users with limited medical knowledge. Other disadvantages include Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations and hacking of accounts. Therefore, it is imperative for health care professionals interested to use this valuable tool to be familiar with and cautious about its potential risks and limitations.© 2023 The Author(s).

Links

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11307926
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39129902
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jscai.2023.101136

Similar articles

Tools

Export to RIS