The Value of Social Media for Dermatologists [editorial]

There have been 4 innovations in human history that have fundamentally changed the way we communicate: the printing press, the telephone and telegraph, television and radio, and social media (Clay Shirky, oral communication). Simply put, social media refers to Web-based tools and mobile technologies that allow people to connect and share information. Think of it as digital conversation that is not constrained by time and geography. Social media has irrevocably changed the way we communicate and also is changing our health care model. Consider our new lexicon; we talk about e-patients and e-doctors, shared decision making, health care tweet chats, and online reputation. These terms did not exist a few years ago and would not exist now without social media.