Maren Y. Fuller and Timothy Craig Allen (2016) Let's Have a Tweetup: The Case for Using Twitter Professionally. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine: September 2016, Vol. 140, No. 9, pp. 956-957.

SPECIAL ARTICLES

Let's Have a Tweetup: The Case for Using Twitter Professionally

Maren Y. Fuller , MD; Timothy Craig Allen , MD, JD

From the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas (Dr Fuller); and the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston (Dr Allen).

The authors have no relevant financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.

Reprints: Timothy Craig Allen, MD, JD, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX 77555 (email: tcallen@utmb.edu).

Social media use is very common and can be an effective way for professionals to discuss information and interact with colleagues. Twitter (Twitter, Inc, San Francisco, California) is a social media network where posts, termed tweets, are limited to 140 characters. Professional use of Twitter is ideal for physicians interested in both networking and education and is optimally used to facilitate in-person networking. Live-tweeting (posting real-time reactions to events) at professional meetings is also a popular and highly successful use of Twitter. Physicians report patient privacy as the top concern preventing use of social media for professional reasons, and although generally social media use is safe, it is essential to understand how to protect patient confidentially. Other social media platforms with potential for professional use include Facebook (Facebook, Inc, Menlo Park, California), Instagram (Facebook, Inc), YouTube (YouTube, LLC, San Bruno, California), and Periscope (Twitter, Inc). With Twitter and other social media options, now is the time for pathologists to increase our visibility on social media and worldwide.