Medtwitter was great. We met amazing people and exchanged ideas. There were endless arguments about electrolytes and intubation.
But the strength of Medtwitter was never the platform – it was the people.
Twitter has been deteriorating for years. For example, the algorithm is horrific, the blocking feature has been largely removed, posts from paid users are prioritized, and Musk uses the platform as a political tool. Meanwhile, BlueSky has been steadily improving.
It's been inevitable that a tipping point would be reached, where everyone would migrate to Bluesky. I think we've reached that tipping point.
I don't think it really matters what platform we use, as long as it's a safe and reasonably functional platform that contains everyone.
Some will argue that we should stick it out on Twitter. I'm afraid I have to disagree. The past predicts the future. Twitter will likely continue to deteriorate over time. Musk will probably continue to do things that irritate people and push them off the platform. Barring major unforeseen changes, Twitter is doomed.
I've never feared Twitter's loss. I do fear that our community might splinter into various platforms (Instagram, threads, Twitter, BlueSky, etc.).
Incidentally, Bluesky does have some terrific features that will allow MedTwitter to flourish there. Users can create feeds that other people may contribute to. This makes it easy to curate posts about a specific topic of interest. Specialized feeds will help us find and amplify great content, diversifying our experience.
So, it feels like it's time to reconstitute MedTwitter on Bluesky. If you're a MedTwitter expat out there somewhere, check into Bluesky and say hi. It's the got the funky, warm vibe of Twitter in 2012. It's disorganized right now, but I think it's about to get much, much stronger. 🦋
- PulmCrit: ADAPT and SCREEN trials are full of sound and fury, signifying little - December 13, 2024
- PulmCrit: How to quickly create a useful professional account in BlueSky - November 28, 2024
- PulmCrit Wee: Why MedTwitter should move to Bluesky - November 15, 2024
Great idea! Twitter has been a mess for a while now. It lost a lot of its value IMO. See you there…
Your politics have shown through. Should have just spoke about the platform and not Musk. Twitter now X, has always been political, its just in different hands now.
This isn’t about politics, its about trying to keep a community together. We’ve already lost a lot of great people off twitter to Bluesky. I don’t want MedTwitter people to be split apart between Twitter, Bluesky, threads, Instagram, etc. We need to consolidate our presence somewhere, and the only long-term viable place to do that is Bluesky.
Yes, I mentioned this in my previous comment ( needing to avoid division amongst the medical community. & medtwitter.) However, I don’t think bluesky is the place for that. If you read my previous comment, 99 % blue sky is liberal. It is geared towards liberals whereas twitter still has a 50-50 base. While politics should not ever play a roll in medtwitter, the people who are part of the med twitter community are going to want easy access to other things on the platform. A disproportionate amount of the medtwitter community will choose to remain on X. The chance… Read more »
“twitter still has a 50-50 base”
You must be joking, and clearly did not read any of what he actually wrote.
Yes, I must agree with you. The simple fact that you were down voted for your comment (to a -3) only confirms your suspicions, in my opinion. Whether the author realizes it or not, he abandoned the topic of MedTwitter altogether, just seemingly share his political ideology and criticize the “other” side. I prefer to remain politically unbiased towards everyone for the sake of professionalism. It is the only way that we can healthily discuss our opposing medical viewpoints without having other medical professionals shut each other down, solely for their political affiliations. It shouldn’t matter what platform we’re on.… Read more »
“there is a possibility it could reach 2 million someday, but it’s not going to surpass that by much, if at all” um….. Bluesky is currently at 20 million and rapidly growing. It’s been growing at a rate of 1 million users per day over the last week. Twitter does have more users, but I think a lot of them are either bots or inactive. My experience has been that the level of interaction on Bluesky is very high (e.g., there may be fewer users but they are real people who are actually on the service). Overall my experience on… Read more »
Speaking about Musk is integral to speaking about the platform. His acquisition and subsequent changes have turned it into a political tool and destroyed the function for which it was created.
The downvotes were so predictable.
It’s been a mess for a long time. The whole FOAMed concept kind of burned out. Once they really started pushing algorithm twitter/X really died as a platform. In updating lectures I started to use the term static when describing twitter feed. I’ve pretty much moved to RSS and don’t actually interact as much as I did. Back in “the day” used to be able to post and get an immediate answer from someone. I remember fondly discussions about branding and the like. Maybe with a friendlier platform I’ll start interacting more.
They delete comments they don’t agree with. Don’t call out his politicization of this platform or they will delete your comments. Screenshots to be posted on all other forums to follow for evidence.
This post could have simply been a message that their platform was moving but they decided to make it more about people’s beliefs than medicine.
Just to be clear, I’m only speaking for myself (Josh Farkas). And that’s really the only thing I have left to say to you. If you don’t like me then leave me alone and stop paying attention to my stuff.
I love your stuff and your ability to Teach/Instruct. You produce excellent content. Just don’t need names or politics involved. Please keep doing what your doing!!!
Medicine is inseparable from politics.
Real professional. You should be thrown off the platform.
He’s literally one of the creators.