Social Media and Medical Writing

I thought that because I have a few blogs and a fairly active Facebook account, I had a pretty good grasp of social media. But I've discovered there is a lot to learn from some recent readings. 

Anyway, we have been exploring how to reach other audiences through social media, especially when you take into account that in February 2009, social network usage exceeded Web-based e-mail usage for the first time (click here for the Nielsen report, The Global Online Media Landscape). For instance, our approach on the NNii web site has been the traditional text article with scientific references. But should we be adding videos, tag clouds, Twitter and Facebook pages? Should we hire a teenager to do all this?

One great example of integrating social media into health communications is the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov. They offer podcasts, mobile alerts, videos, widgets,  facebook group, and more.

If you want to learn more about using social media, there are a lot of books, blogs and twitter feeds out there. I'm reading an ebook called The Zen of Social Media Marketing, which seems pretty good so far.

Thanks for reading!