The first time that I ever felt old was when I heard about twitter.  I just didn’t get it.  It seemed just bizarre and alien.  I understood facebook.  I understood AIM. I understood mySpace, and Kazaa, and other social and pseudo-social networks of the early 2000s and late 1990s.  I even participated (and continue to participate) in a few.  But twitter seemed entirely different. After all, what worthwhile message can you possibly broadcast in 140 characters?  Stupid kids, I thought, ruining the internets with new-fangled emojis and punctuation-less lolspeak.

The ostensible stupidity aside, I still tried to get into twitter.  About a year and a half ago, I created an account, which I only used when when I had to, as an intern at ABC News.  It was admittedly fun to participate in their twitterchats, and help spread the news network’s pithy messages throughout the world.  However, after that internship ended and I headed back to work in Kentucky, it had no role and I largely forgot about it.  After all, if I had something to share, I could just do it through facebook, or, better yet, through the real world.

But I’m willing to give twitter a second chance, and, in the process, understand the full potential of micro-blogging.   So, I’m introducing two new hashtags, #RheumFacts, and #AllergyFacts, which are essentially like CatFacts, but more topical to the fields of rheumatology and allegy/immunology.  (Google Cat Facts if you don’t know what it is – and subscribe if you want to learn more about our feline companions.)  I hope that, in 140 characters, I can relay snippets of whatever I am learning in this fellowship to the world at large.

I will try to update my feed frequently – when I’m not on call.  But don’t hold me to that: chances are that I’ll fall behind the times, yet again.