3. Blogging helps me meet wonderful people all over the world
4. Blogging gives me an opportunity to grow
5. Blogging has the potential to create an income
It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it
From an interview of Seth Godin and Tom Peters:
"Blogging is free. It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it. What matters is the humility that comes from writing it. What matters is the metacognition of thinking about what you’re going to say. No single thing in the last 15 years professionally has been more important to my life than blogging. It has changed my life, it has changed my perspective, it has changed my intellectual outlook, it’s changed my emotional outlook. And it’s free."
Doctor, you can be a Twitter superstar in two easy steps
"As we start 2012, and welcome the more than 6 million annual visitors to our journal's Web site, we remind our readers that the online version, not the shorter print edition, is the official journal of record. Is it time to do away with the print version? Probably not just yet, but it may not be long until we are heading in that direction.
If you are thinking, “there are so many options to peruse and so little time!” you will find some highlights of each issue in our blog - First Read - which contains previews of articles of interest selected by members of our executive editorial board. We are even running some of our most interesting “fillers” from the print journal in the blog so they are not missed by our online readers"
All physicians should consider starting a blog in 2012
I would encourage all physicians to start a blog in 2012 - here is why (quotes from an interview with Seth Godin and Tom Peters):
"Blogging is free. It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it. What matters is the humility that comes from writing it. What matters is the metacognition of thinking about what you’re going to say.
No single thing in the last 15 years professionally has been more important to my life than blogging. It has changed my life, it has changed my perspective, it has changed my intellectual outlook, it’s changed my emotional outlook. And it’s free."
Don't limit yourself to your blog - use Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus
Blogging can be great for personal growth but there is a lot more interaction on Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus nowadays as compared to blogs. If you have a blog, you must also have a Facebook "like" page (previously called "fan" page), a Twitter account, and probably a Google Plus page. These serve the dual purpose of distribution and commenting channels ("two-way street").
For example, Facebook pages get a lot more interaction than blogs for some medical journals - you can compare the number of comments on the NEJM Facebook updates (the range is 9-180) vs. their blog (0). The blog has comments enabled, of course.
Facebook is the clear "winner" in terms of commenting activity, it is not even close:
This is a suggested simple project for all doctors in 2012:
1. Start on Twitter (microblog). 2. Continue on Blogger/WordPress. 3. Make an impact. Improve the quality of online health information and tell the public your side of the story.
How to Create a Blog on Blogger in 5 minutes (Google video):
Help your patients and your practice
I developed the concept of Two Interlocking Cycles:
- Cycle of Patient Education - Cycle of Online Information and Physician Education
The two cycles work together as two interlocking cogwheels (TIC):
"Dr. Choi has more than 3000 Facebook friends, many of whom are patients and colleagues.
But he draws the line at talking about cases with colleagues or sending diagnoses or test results to patients on networking sites. "I can't do any patient care using their messaging or using the site because it's not HIPAA-compliant," Dr. Choi says. "I'll pick up the phone to discuss a case."
Because doctors can be hesitant to share their e-mail addresses -- and regular e-mail is not secure to HIPAA standards -- it's not unheard of for people to find their doctors on Facebook. But the doctors interviewed generally say they avoid making diagnoses or communicating test results over the Internet."
Initiating metformin soon after diabetes diagnosis and while A1C is low might preserve β-cell function, prolong the effectiveness of metformin, reduce lifetime glycemic burden, and prevent diabetes complications.
These findings support the current treatment algorithm for hyperglycemia management that recommends metformin initiation when diabetes is first diagnosed.
Quotes from an interview with Seth Godin and Tom Peters:
"Blogging is free. It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it. What matters is the humility that comes from writing it. What matters is the metacognition of thinking about what you’re going to say.
No single thing in the last 15 years professionally has been more important to my life than blogging. It has changed my life, it has changed my perspective, it has changed my intellectual outlook, it’s changed my emotional outlook.
And it’s free."
Don't limit yourself to your blog - use Facebook and Twitter
Blogging can be great for personal growth but there is a lot more interaction on Twitter and Facebook nowadays as compared to blogs. If you have a blog, you must also have a Facebook "like" page (previously called "fan" page) and a Twitter account. These serve the dual purpose of distribution and commenting channels ("two-way street").
For example, Facebook pages get a lot more interaction than blogs for some medical journals - you can count the comments on the NEJM Facebook updates (the range is 9-180) vs. their blog (0). The blog has comments enabled, of course.
Facebook is the clear "winner" in terms of commenting activity, it is not even close:
@cmeadvocate (Brian S. McGowan PhD): Look at commenting activity on NEJM's Facebook page (100's) vs. NEJM's blog (<10).>
@rsm2800 (Robert S. Miller, MD): Striking difference
@kevinmd (Kevin Pho, M.D.): That's because the NEJM fb page has 170,000+ fans. Blog doesn't generate nearly that much traffic.
@DrVes: One of the reasons, yes. However, the commenting activity on many blogs is down. To compensate, a lot of them started embedding Twitter re-tweets as a substitute for comments. I did it too with this post (you are reading the example).
@DrVes: Thanks for re-tweeting this post http://goo.gl/o9rRl - Blogging introduced me to some of the smartest and most generous people in healthcare. Give it a try. It doesn't matter if anybody reads your blog when you start. If it's useful to you, somebody somewhere will find it useful too.
Blogging helps you grow and meet wonderful people all over the world
