ABSTRACT
Not only is this the first ever volume of the International Review of Psychiatry whose content is focused on social media, but this is also the first volume of this journal developed almost entirely via social media. All of the articles in this issue, with the exception of two, were authored by individuals the author first encountered on Twitter. A related topic is addressed by Matthew DeCamp from the Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics and School of Medicine who reviews the major ethical issues arising from social media use in research, public health, mobile health applications, and global health. Neil Mehta of Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Ashish Atreja of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provide an overview of online support groups, their unique challenges, and how they can complement traditional healthcare delivery models. The author focuses on how Twitter can be used by physicians and other healthcare providers at local, regional, national, and international conferences to expand on the formal education provided in these venues. The final section of the issue features more personal viewpoints regarding social media in medicine. The author, who is 67 years old and has maintained a medical blog since 1998, is considered a pioneer in the field of social media in medicine. I am grateful to the authors and reviewers for the enormous time and energy devoted to this issue and thank the editors for the invitation to produce such a timely volume.
