The bedrock of clinical medicine is effective communication. A generation ago, this was primarily the clinical consultation, the letter to the general practitioner, and the occasional scientific paper. In 2019, the avenues and opportunities for communication have exploded and include a pantheon of new and social media. We review the current state of how doctors use social media, and what can be gained by doing so. We provide strategies about how best to utilize these tools, depending on what you wish to gain. We discuss why every clinician needs a 'social media strategy' even if this is one of increasing your privacy levels and removing incorrect information from the web. We discuss the risks and harms of these newer forms of communication and how best to avoid embarrassment or censure. Social media fills an information vacuum, and in many ways, patients have embraced the opportunities with greater enthusiasm than have clinicians. To 'speak their language', we need to know how best to engage in social media. This article is part of the Special Issue "Epilepsy and Social Media".

中文翻译：

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拥抱社交媒体的临床医生：潜力和陷阱

临床医学的基石是有效的沟通。一代人以前，这主要是临床咨询、给全科医生的信和偶尔的科学论文。2019 年，交流的途径和机会激增，包括大量新媒体和社交媒体。我们回顾了医生如何使用社交媒体的现状，以及这样做可以获得什么。我们提供有关如何最好地利用这些工具的策略，具体取决于您希望获得什么。我们讨论了为什么每个临床医生都需要“社交媒体策略”，即使这是提高您的隐私级别和从网络中删除不正确信息的一种策略。我们讨论了这些较新的交流形式的风险和危害，以及如何最好地避免尴尬或谴责。社交媒体填补了信息真空，在许多方面，患者比临床医生更热情地接受了这些机会。要“说他们的语言”，我们需要知道如何最好地参与社交媒体。本文是特刊“癫痫和社交媒体”的一部分。