Social media has changed the way we interact with people, brands and information.

By the nature of their design, platforms such as Youtube, Facebook and Twitter, Instagram, Reddit etc. have introduced us to the modern phenomena of  information sharing and in particulalr ‘crowdsourcing’. That is, drawing upon populations of like-minded individuals to seek answers to questions, or indeed contribute towards them. It’s never been easier to source and share knowledge, which has contribute further to the ‘age of information’ (or disinformation, but that’s another topic altogether).

This type of digital forum has real and beneficial implications for both HCPs and patients.

New platforms such as crowdmed.com position themselves as a means for patients with rare diseases to …

HCPs are also getting in to the action, with sermo.com and doctors.net.uk the trailblazers in this space. Since then, platforms like and lately Figure 1. (kind of like and Instagram for doctors)

A relatively new company called Sosido have also arrived on the scene, with a focus providing a bespoke, exclusive online networking and information sharing platform for Healthcare associations and their benefit members. Pharmaceutical companies  are also now getting involved to use Sosido to create their own online communities of key HCP stakeholders with great affect (ask us how).

Many physicians place importance on profile themselves and their work amongst peers, these recent platforms now provide an effective channel to help with this, and in a world where social media is so impactful and one’s popularity is often based on ‘followers’ or ‘likes’, it’s no wonder we see such a high willingness to embrace this technology by thought leaders (and junior physicians alike) across most specialties .