• Contest rules
• Launch day
• Neat video on making digital art

We're running this contest leading up to National Biotechnology Week in Canada. Entries will be accepted until September 16^th and voting will close on September 24^th at the end of National Biotechnology Week. There are modest cash prizes for the top 3 entries and all submissions will be considered for us in our print publications and on our various online sites.

                                                                         
                                                                

• For a start, think of social media and social networks in the broadest context. It isn't just about who is on Facebook or Twitter, or which organizations have a blog. There are social networks that cater to a health care niche audience. I've had my genome sequenced and as a result I am a member of the 23andMe and deCode social sphere that you can't really break into unless you've had your DNA whirled and twirled and sequenced. Sermo is a physicians only site which according to the Deloitte report is used by 1 out of ever 6 U.S. physicians. Patients Like Me is a site that won't pop up in a lot of social media minds but  it has become an important place to share stories and find information. Our own GenOmics site breaks the social media mold somewhat and doesn't fit neatly into some of the categories we generally tend to lump into social media.
• We also have to apply the same broad context when defining health care. The niche sites of 23andMe and deCode or the Genetic Alliance have very specific social network functions but are becoming increasingly important in health care. The Huntington Society of Canada is on Twitter and may have little relevance if you have never had contact with the disease but it serves a vital role as do similar associations, foundations or support groups. Hospitals, provincial health care services, physicians, and nurses and all related professional associations would also fall under the health care banner. The Mayo Clinic uses social media extensively in the U.S. and even has a Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media but you will be hard pressed to find such an extensive effort in Canada. The Deloitte reports suggests that 700 out of the 5,000 hospital in the U.S. have a social media or social networking presence. That isn't a tremendously high percentage but if we could do a similar survey up here we would in all likelihood lag well behind.
• Finally there is the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors that fit into a health care discussion. The regulatory framework they live with in Canada and the U.S. can make it difficult to participate in social media but the Deloitte reports suggests that 33% of the Fortune 100 companies that operate in the pharmaceutical sector have a blog. At conferences here in Canada I have heard pharmaceutical companies suggest that "why would anyone read a blog, let alone write one.... they are dangerous" and after day 1 of a two day conference on social media in Canada, the pharma attendees didn't bother to come back. There are ways to make it work and there are benefits to be had.

And those benefits are the final consideration in any report, and which was not really in the scope of the Deloitte report. No matter what the numbers or the level of participation in social media, what are the benefits coming back to health care. In a private health care system it could be a better bottom line but in Canada it may be harder to measure. However more trust from the users of the health care systems, a better idea of how money is spent (whether it is tax money or charitable donations ), and the somewhat intangible idea that "there are patients like me" out there, all are areas where social media can shine. Social media can also be an important tool to make the system better, to provide a feedback mechanism, to raise funding, and to exchange information.

So where exactly does Canada sit? 

Deloitte opened the door when they tweeted  "To discuss next week: #healthcare & #socialmedia in Canada, sparked by a Q from @mikesgene re: @DeloitteUS report http://ow.ly/2sDav  ^AJ" and it would be interesting to see if we can produce some solid Canadian examples, or if Canadians even care. It would also be great if Deloitte Canada could produce a similar report to the U.S. one.

Leave a comment below or send a Twitter comment to @mikesgene and/or @DeloitteCanada and pass long numbers, examples or ideas.
Hope to hear from you.

@JoVEJournal : "the primary means by which scientists communicate with each other has remained frozen in time." http://fb.me/EaD9tOgy  

@phylogenomics Could make GMOs much harder to use: NYTimes: Judge Bars Genetically Modified Sugar Beets http://nyti.ms/aZrqNi

@PR4Science NY Times - science communications - specialized journalists a vanishing breed. opportunity for science PR? http://tinyurl.com/249x5bb 

@ralphmercer I think therefore I need coffee

And who are these stellar picks of the week?

• There are more than 106 million Twitter accounts
• The number of Twitter users increases by as many as 300,000 a day
• Twitter gets 3 billion requests a day
• The average Twitter account has 27 followers
• Genome Alberta has 605 followers
• Twitter users send 55 million tweets per day
• In the 2 1/2 years we have been active on Twitter we have generated rought 4,100 tweets
• Our GenOmics application is linked to our Twitter account so many stories are automatically cross posted
• The 18-34 year old demographic is the largest Twitter group followed by by the 34-49 year old age bracket

If you would like more information on how we use Twitter at Genome Alberta or how Twitter might fit into your organization drop me a line at mspear@genomealberta.ca or  follow @mikesgene
Every 2 weeks we bring you a few of the hi-lites we come across on Twitter and who we feel are some of the more interesting people and organizations to track. Take a look at the postings listed below, follow the hyperlinks for some interesting sites, and click on the @name to find out more from these quality 'tweeters. We've checked the links and you can be assured they won't take you into uncharted territory.