Will the medical community flee Twitter/X?

With the rebranding of Twitter to X, and the emergence of Meta’s “Threads”, the jury’s out as to where the online health conversation will take itself in 2024. When I hold up my looking glass, I believe HCPs will continue using X as long as the platform is reliable, but with Meta releasing a web version of “Threads”, experts might decide to make the switch. At Anthem, we’re monitoring the situation very closely and believe more platforms will provide more opportunities for creative engagement.

For any advice, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

So, there was a time before Twitter.

(Not so) long ago, healthcare professionals (HCPs) primarily relied on conferences, seminars and academic journals to share knowledge. However, with the advent of the “microblogging” platform – Twitter – in 2006, the healthcare community found a new space to engage with each other, breaking down the barriers of geographical boundaries and time zones.

Let there be Tweets.

Conversations about research findings, medical advancements or treatment strategies were now happening in real-time and at a global scale. Twitter became a truly revolutionary way for HCPs to stay informed with the latest developments and swap ideas with their peers.

Virtual medical communities formed organically and HCPs started to join specific interest groups or follow hashtags related to their areas of expertise (#CardioTwitter, #NephroTwitter, #OncTwitter amongst others). These online communities evolved into thriving hubs of information exchange, providing opportunities for networking, collaboration and mentorship.

The informal tone that has always been a signature of Twitter’s spirit played a huge role in creating a sense of camaraderie among HCPs too. Medical information, when shared alongside anecdotes, opinions and sometimes even interactive quizzes, helps doctors and other practitioners humanise themselves and strengthen connections with their professional colleagues and the public.

Medical Communications arrive...

It didn’t take long for pharmaceutical companies seeking to interact with HCPs and the public to join these online conversations, and alongside them,  healthcare communications agencies began leveraging social media to disseminate content about research findings, medical devices, treatment approaches and diseases. By actively participating in relevant organic discussions and with the use of targeted advertising, the pharmaceutical industry  started reaching their target audiences even more effectively, whether HCPs or patients.

X for Ex?

But, on 23 July 2023, Elon Musk announced that he was rebranding Twitter to X, a new name that reflected its ambition to become an “everything app” offering a wide variety of services and features.

Even before the rebrand, Musk had already implemented a number of changes on the platform that disrupted the way users interact. For starters, “blue ticks” are now for sale. The famous icon that once indicated an account was official and verified can now be yours for £11:00. With the purchase of this premium version of X, users are promised to get “prioritised rankings in conversations and search”. The result?Some organic discussions were immediately hijacked by out-of-context responses from accounts promoting irrelevant products or services.

Musk also fired over 80% of Twitter employees, a move which meant moderation of the platform took a hit. It has been reported that hate speech is on the rise, something advertisers don’t want their brands to be associated with. Musk reported himself that X has seen a 50% drop in advertising revenue since his takeover and in a desperate attempt to rectify the situation, the channel has significantly discounted ad prices, a strategy we are yet to see/confirm has been successful.  

Due to all these sudden changes, a potential risk of X’s rebranding is that it could increase the spread of misinformation and disinformation on health topics. X could become a platform where poorly informed opinions and views – from unqualified sources – are being pushed more than they should be, and even more so than on competitor platforms. The impact could be devastating to people’s individual health choices and damage trust with expert HCPs.

Meta me on the other side.

With a new player in town in the form of Meta’s “Threads” (yet to be monetised and to feature ads as of August 2023), it’s going to be very interesting to see whether the health conversation takes itself somewhere else in the digital space, or adapts to its legacy home that is Twitter/X. While quite a few companies have secured their handle on the Twitter-like newcomer, we haven’t seen a great deal of medical or pharmaceutical “threads” yet.