Doctors Turn To Twitter and TikTok To Share Coronavirus News

In a sign of the times, doctors are effectively waging a two-pronged fight against coronavirus: one part takes place in overcrowded hospitals and the other takes place on noisy social media platforms as they work to combat what the World Health Organization has declared an infodemic with accurate, authoritative voices. From a report: All of that means doctors, some of whom were once reluctant to embrace social media, are wading deeper into platforms that are rife with fake news, unproven medical advice and mass panic. "Social media is the disease and the cure. It is responsible for the dissemination of misinformation as much as it needs to be a tool for repairing that," said Rick Pescatore, an emergency room physician and public health expert in the Philadelphia area, who is active on Twitter and Facebook and has treated Covid-19 patients. "It's incumbent upon physicians, who want to get real information out there, to meet these patients where they are -- and that's social media."

Perhaps nowhere is this shift more striking than on TikTok, a short-form video platform beloved by teens that is best known for lip syncing, dance routines and comedy skits. In one TikTok video viewed more than 416,000 times, a registered nurse named Miki Rai does a choreographed dance involving a lot of hand motions as facts about Covid-19 flash on the screen, such as how long the virus stays on different surfaces. In another TikTok video, set to soothing elevator music, Dr. Rose Marie Leslie demonstrates proper handwashing: Wet hands. Lather up. Start washing for 20 seconds. Scrub under your nails and between fingers. Rinse. Leslie, a resident physician specializing in family medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, created a TikTok account about a year ago, with the aim of reaching a younger demographic with health education information. Soon after coronavirus cases started emerging, she began creating TikToks about the issue. Now, she works to debunk myths about the virus for her more than 500,000 followers.

Say 'Hello' to Mr Darwin

[nagora]

Let morons on social media believe what they like, it'll make more room for the rest of us when we come out again.

Re:Say 'Hello' to Mr Darwin

[Merk42]

Except in situations like this, the moron can also affect the non-moron's chance of living as well.

Re:

[IamNaNIam]

Except in situations like this, the moron can also affect the non-moron's chance of living as well.

Like the moron in the White House who is putting my parents at risk?

Re:

[IamNaNIam]

Nope, he said it was like the flu when experts were saying the opposite.

Once someone you know dies of the virus, think about this exchange please.

Re:

[radarskiy]

Evolution works at the species level, not the individual.

The cynic in me wants to tell them...

[jiriw]

"Good luck with that!"

The optimist in me want to tell them the same.

I'm confused.

I've got about ten 'social' apps on my phone and only found them useful for keeping in touch with people I know, for things like, personal stuff... messages I used to use my actual phone-phone function for or e-mail... like making an appointment, share a photo or weblink... Were they ever 'better' for spreading mass (mis)communication than the traditional means?

I'm sure that'll work well.

[Mashiki]

On one hand, we have a platform effectively run by China. And another platform that's doing things at the behest of China. In both cases, censoring information that they don't like.

Hello Hospital Liaison

[ambidextroustech]

All that would need to be done is to give a liaison, who is fully cognizant of HIPPAA, to be given the permission to start reporting, and it could be done at a state level (so no hospital filled a job req. needlessly). But I get it, hospitals want to safe guard what gets out because one ill-represented case can ripple out in the wrong way.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[AHuxley]

Don't mention Taiwan.
Don't use terms like wuflu.

Re:

[TeknoHog]

More generally, medical advice may change as science advances. In the early 19th Century, most doctors didn't believe that washing hands would reduce infections.

TikTok is a bad platform for this

[Anonymous Cow Ward]

TikTok is owned/run by a Chinese company with an extra-close relationship with the CCP. Nobody should use it, but especially not to distribute news about a pandemic the CCP is lying about.

Re:

[Can'tNot]

The CCP is not lying abut hand washing, none of that applies here. This is a fine way to combat misinformation about sanitation and risks, which is otherwise being spread on platforms like this one.

TikTok has opaque censorship

[nicolaiplum]

"TikTok, .... best known for lip syncing, dance routines and comedy skits."

TikTok should be best known for opaque and widespread censorship of any ideas the Chinese government doesn't like (try mentioning "Tiananmen" on TikTok and see how wide your post goes), moral censorship (homosexuality, etc), and limiting the distribution of videos by anyone unattractive, overweight, or visibly disabled.

Lies always end badly

[TomGreenhaw]

According to the World Health organization today, 4/2/2020, mask guidelines are as follows:
If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.
Wear a mask if you are coughing or sneezing.
Masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.
If you wear a mask, then you must know how to use it and dispose of it properly.

They know that everyone should be wearin