Does X still mark the spot for cardiologists? The risks and benefits of using Twitter in 2023 and beyond
Twitter has gone through significant changes since it first emerged as one of the world’s most prominent social media platforms. Perhaps the single biggest of those changes occurred in 2022, when billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, going on to completely retool its user verification policies and giving it a new one-letter name: X.
Is X/Twitter still worth using? Considering the platform’s massive popularity in the medical community, it’ is worth exploring its potential usefulness for cardiologists in 2023 and beyond.
A team of interventional cardiologists took on that very task, sharing its full assessment in JSCAI, the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI).[1]
First author Mohammad Rana, MD, an interventional cardiologist with University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, and colleagues detailed some of the key advantages and disadvantages to using X/Twitter in today’s healthcare landscape.
SCAI President George Dangas, MD, PhD, a professor of medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and director of cardiovascular innovation at Mount Sinai Hospital, was one of the piece’s co-authors.
3 benefits for interventional cardiologists using X/Twitter
1. Outreach
“Since X/Twitter is free and easily accessible through the internet, it enables virtual congregation of a diverse group of healthcare professionals, patients, and their caregivers spread throughout the world,” the authors wrote.
Interventional cardiologists appear to be especially invested in using the platform. Rana et al. cited one study that found X/Twitter users who are interventional cardiologists are more likely to be well-known and influential than those in other related specialties.
2. Education
Interventional cardiology is constantly evolving, with state-of-the-art technologies and new care guidelines being introduced on a regular basis. Social media gives specialists an incredibly helpful tool for keeping up with the latest and greatest in the field, the authors explained.
“Every month thousands of cardiovascular medicine articles are published in various cardiology journals spread throughout the world in several languages,” they wrote. “While this is the manifestation of the innovative spirit and scientific rigor of the cardiology community, it is not only difficult to access all these articles, but also almost impossible to read through even a fraction of them.”
The use of specific hashtags—#cardiology and #cardiotwitter, for example—is one way social media users find one another on platforms such as X/Twitter. If someone has information to share, they can simply drop a relevant hashtag into their post and it instantly becomes part of a searchable database of content related to that topic.
3. Networking
Interventional cardiologists looking for work, collaborators or even funding opportunities can use X/Twitter to reach a large number of people who may be interested. Patients have also turned to the platform to improve their understanding of cardiovascular issues impacting their own lives or the lives of loved ones.
3 risks for interventional cardiologists using X/Twitter
1. False information
As one might expect, giving social media users such a massive platform can have its downsides. One of the biggest issues is that it can be challenging to tell when information is and is not and accurate.
“While published medical literature is always peer-reviewed and goes through the review process to get validated and approved, there is no such mechanism for medical information dissemination through social media, where several influencers tweet information hidden behind the cloak of a free speech platform,” the authors wrote. “Because of such (mis)information, some patients may refuse using medications or following medical advice that is based on rigorous research studies and careful approval processes such as well-known medications like statins. Similar disinformation is apparent around vaccinations as well which have led to significant morbidity and mortality as seen most recently in the COVID-19 pandemic.”
2. The oversimplification of information
Interventional cardiologists—and their patients, for that matter—must remember that social media platforms such as X/Twitter are not a substitute for professional medical advice.
Rana et al. emphasized that it is “extremely difficult” to provide “comprehensive medical advice” in a single social media post, introducing a risk that important facts may be left out of the conversation.
3. Cybersecurity concerns
Social media users always face a risk of being hacked and seeing their online presence be used for nefarious purposes. This, the authors explained, can quickly ruin a healthcare providers reputation and damage their career.
A final verdict
"X/Twitter is a powerful composite platform that delivers tremendous value to healthcare providers as well as healthcare consumers,” the authors concluded. “While any powerful tool can be used for progress and improvement, there is always a potential for deleterious effects and harmful use. A logical solution to this menace can be use of appropriate resources to monitor and ‘fact-check’ information and its source, as much as possible.”
Read the team’s full evaluation here for even more risks and benefits.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.