The Twitter pandemic: The critical role of Twitter in the dissemination of medical information and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Rosenberg, Hans; Syed, Shahbaz; Rezaie, Salim

One of the criticisms of conventional medical education (textbooks, journals) is that they are often behind the curve in terms of knowledge translation. The benefit of social media is that the content is often more novel. In the middle of a pandemic, the ability to rapidly share information is critical for knowledge translation and dissemination, and Twitter is able to do this in a way that is typically not feasible for textbooks or journals. Most relevant to the EM community, we are seeing the free exchange of protocols/guidelines from specialty groups such as the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, highly reputable international journals (such as Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, BMJ [formerly British Medical Journal], and others), and academic/community hospitals. Leading on this front are many of the established medical educators who use Twitter as part of the Free Online Access Medical Education (FOAMed) effort to educate EPs on the global pandemic. Just one of these examples is the "Protected Airway Process" from Dr. Christopher Hicks, widely shared and retweeted by frontline practitioners to ensure that health care providers remain safe during intubations. 11 It's amazing to think that medical professionals everywhere around the globe have the same database of information with the simple use of a website or mobile application. Although the user must remain vigilant in the face of any new information presented to them, these respected institutions and users can equip health care workers worldwide with the knowledge to combat the pandemic.