VIDEO: Physicians talk Threads app, state of social media
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With the launch of Threads, a social media platform rivaling X, or, the platform formerly known as Twitter, five physicians joined this Healio webinar to talk about whether they are making the switch.
They shared tips and tricks for using Threads and weighed the benefits that different social platforms can bring to the health care community. They also compared the Threads experience to that of X (Twitter), which has undergone a series of controversial changes since coming under new ownership last year.
Don Dizon, MD, said it was “a philosophical decision” for him to migrate from Twitter to Threads, citing a “direction [Twitter] was going” he would no longer support. But he finds that his content gets less engagement on Threads because he left much of his following behind.
Dagny Zhu, MD, agreed that low engagement compared with X (Twitter) is “the problem with Threads right now,” adding that X’s (Twitter’s) power for advocacy is a reason she “can’t see Threads replacing [the platform] anytime soon.”
Shikha Jain, MD, said physicians are in a “tough position” because if they all left X (Twitter), misinformation would “run rampant” and there would be no “evidence-based, science voices there to pick up the pieces.” Though she hopes X (Twitter) will change for the better, she has also found that “social media’s not as much fun” as in past years.
Mark A. Lewis, MD, who hadn’t created a Threads account yet, highlighted the ongoing value of the “MedTwitter” community as a force for positive change. He said he has found “there’s still enough critical mass on X (Twitter) that, until it absolutely goes down in flames, I think it’s worth staying.”
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