Study says data related to antibiotics can travel to a large audience through social networking sites

A new study has revealed that misinformation about antibiotics can travel to large audience through social networking sites like Twitter.

Experts from Columbia University and MixedInk (New York) examined the health information content of Twitter updates mentioning antibiotics to determine how people are sharing information and assess the proliferation of misinformation.

The investigation explored evidence of misunderstanding or misuse of antibiotics.

“Research focusing on microblogs and social networking services is still at an early stage. Further study is needed to assess how to promote healthy behaviors and to collect and disseminate trustworthy information using these tools,” Daniel Scanfeld and colleagues said.

The authors stressed that because health information is shared extensively on such networks, it is important for health care professionals to have a basic familiarity with social networking media services, such as Twitter.

They add that such services can potentially be used to gather important real-time health data and may provide a venue to identify potential misuse or misunderstanding of antibiotics, promote positive behavior change, and disseminate valid information.

The study appears in the April issue of AJIC: American Journal of Infection Control.

The modern communication tool Twitter made it into outer space when US astronaut Timothy Creamer sent a tweet from the International Space Station (ISS), Russian state television reported on Saturday.

“Hello Twitterverse! we r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station – the 1st live tweet from Space!: ),” Creamer wrote to his Twitter following on earth.

Astronauts on the ISS have in recent weeks had direct access to the Internet.

Creamer has been sending updates on his progress in preparing for his space mission under the Twitter name Astro TJ since late December. Around 14,700 people have subscribed to his profile as followers.

The US astronaut and his countryman Jeff Williams are onboard the ISS, together with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Maxim Suraev and Soichi Noguchi of Japan.

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/astro_tj

They’ve just invented a new device that can let you use Twitter, even if you aren’t at a computer! This could be the biggest thing in made-to-be-obsolete technology since the standalone Wi-Fi text messenger!

Okay, okay…I’ll set my 50s-style faux-enthusiasm aside for a moment to explain. A company called Peek has just announced a new gizmo known as the TwitterPeek. The device lets you read and write tweets on the go, and — well, that’s actually it. You pay a hundred bucks for the thing, then another $8 a month on top of that for the standalone Twitter access. (You can also opt to buy a $200 model that includes service for the lifetime of the device.)

The company’s selling point is that not everyone has a Web-enabled smartphone, and the TwitterPeek could be a more affordable way to keep connected with the Twitterverse. But is Twitter by itself reason enough to buy a $100 standalone device and pay a monthly access fee? Even if you don’t want to cough up the extra $22 a month that could get you unlimited data on your $100 smartphone, there are still plenty of other more practical options.

But hey, maybe I’m missing the big picture here. Maybe we’ll all soon be carrying around individual devices for every single service we need. Just think of the possibilities:

• The iRumor: Forget your other Internet-connected contraptions — for the low price of $59.95 (plus $5.49 a month), this device will automatically check a dozen different Mac blogs to bring you the latest Apple-related rumors every hour!

• iRumor Plus: The expanded iRumor Plus doesn’t stop with Apple. It pings TechCrunch at 30-minute intervals to collect every unsubstantiated tech rumor, Apple or otherwise, published on the Web.

• The FaceBook: Keep in touch anywhere with this book-like gadget that does nothing but show your Facebook news stream (and let you update your status with remarks about how cool your new FaceBook gadget is).

• The TwitTrend: An even more economical version of the TwitterPeek, the TwitTrend connects to Twitter but displays only trending topics such as #LoseMyNumber and #HesNotThatIntoYou.

• The Tap Tap Metallica Player: Why shell out the cash for an iPod Touch when you can buy Tap Tap Revenge: Metallica on its own dedicated device? (Note: Metallica may end up suing itself over this thing, so buy at your own risk.)

• The Windows Mobile phone: Get basic phone functionality without all the bells and whistles by picking up a Windows Mobile phone. You’ll be able to make and receive calls and texts, even connect to the Internet and download exciting passable applications from the Windows Mobile Marketplace. You’ll almost think you’re using one of those popular smartphone devices everyone else has!

Wait a minute…that last one actually does exist. But still.

And so yesterday Microsoft with its Bing search engine and Google with its, er, Google search engine decided separately and individually to forge a deal with Twitter to search for “tweets” in real time.

It’s completely unclear what money, if any, passed between Google and Twitter and Bing and Twitter.
It’s obviously a marriage of convenience.

Although Microsoft was the first to unveil the initiative at the Web 2.0 conference and Google announced its initiative later in the day, representatives from the bigger search engine told ABC News that it was just a coincidence and that the deal had been months in the making.

And so very soon now you’ll be able to use either Bing or Google to search for such tweet like phrases as “I’m boiling the kettle”, or “I’m washing my skivvies” or “I’m searching for boiling the kettle on Google”.

Watch what you tweet. That’s the message tennis authorities are delivering as the US Open gets set to start today, telling players and their entourages to be careful about what they post on the social networking site Twitter.

Signs are being posted in the players’ lounge, locker rooms and referee’s office at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with the header: “Important. Player Notice. Twitter Warning.”

The signs, written by the Tennis Integrity Unit, point out that Twitter messages could violate the sport’s anti-corruption rules.

“Many of you will have Twitter accounts in order for your fans to follow you and this is great,” the notices read.

“However popular it is, it is important to warn you of some of the dangers posted by Twittering as it relates to the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program Rules.”

Andy Roddick, for one, is not a fan of the warning.

In a tweet on Friday, the 2003 US Open champion wrote that he thinks it’s “lame the US Open is trying to regulate our tweeting.. I understand the on-court issue but not sure they can tell us if we can’t do it on our own time.”