Tweet This #Toxicology2.0

Abstract

The pervasiveness of social media is irrefutable. Social media is an umbrella term referring to blogs, podcasts, micro-blogging, wikis, and online videos to name a few. There are over one billion Facebook members and 500 million Twitter users [1]. One hundred hours of YouTube videos are uploaded every minute [2]. The media, law enforcement, and educational institutions have already recognized and begun to harness the potential of social media. Within only 8 mins of the Boston Marathon bombing, the Boston Globe sent out its first tweet announcing the explosions [3]. A missing Saudi Arabian teenager was found in just 3 hrs after a tweet with a mere 300 followers, thanks to the exponential power of re-tweeting [4]. Countless other examples exist from political campaigns driven by twitter to small businesses connecting with unprecedented numbers of customers. The field of medical toxicology possesses many unique qualities that make it ideal to maximize this new and powerful resource. Before I proceed, we need to address the elephant in the (figurative) room. Most physicians hear the term social media and immediately tune out. Perhaps it is because they see no immediate connection between medicine and the endless parade of baby pictures and celebrity self-promotion that social media has become synonymous with. Social media, however, is no longer exclusively a voyeuristic tool of narcissistic screenagers. It is a powerful platform that is being leveraged to advance higher education, patient care, and the bedside application of scientific research.