Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Social Networking Update

 

It’s time for Health Train Express  to do some CME in social networking and all the new words, and eponyms that develop with a new subspecialty in medicine.

How does social networking impact on medicine and your practice?  Well, it is a huge new aspect which all providers need to watch closely.

It is no longer a ‘geek thing”  or just  a place where Betty Boop posts some nudie pictures that predatory “perps” lurk and wait. 

There is or should be no ‘prejudice’ or strange looks from our colleagues at those of us who know about and use ‘social media’ in the course of our day.

It has become a new highway of information, rivaling Google and perhaps surpassing it’s formidable market presence.  In fact I would bet your bottom dollar that Google, Apple, Yahoo and others are watching closely, and perhaps even leasing out their excess capacity on their network servers to facebook, linkedin and others.  I even predict a buyout in the near future of one of these networking services by another network site. 

There are several books and web sites dedicated to learning the basic lingo of social networking.  Read one or some of these ‘esteemed’ reference sources….

Board Certification in one or all of these areas will soon be available.(tongue in cheek)

That's why, with help from the smart folks at technology publisher O'Reilly Media, they’ve assembled a glossary of social-networking terms every physician should know. And for all the techno-jargon that gets tossed around, rest assured you don't have to be a member of the Geek Squad to fathom the implications these issues have for strategy and budgeting

I recommend the following publications:

Facebook, The Missing Manual

Book cover of Facebook: The Missing Manual

YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts

 

 

With 3.2 million unique visitors each month, LinkedIn is by no means the largest social network around. However, thanks to its unique niche, LinkedIn might be the most valuable network you can join as a business professional.

A list of Social Networking Sites

And finally last, but not least (as 0f June 2009) the list of medical and health related social networking sites.

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