August 29th, 2010 by Berci in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, True Stories
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Here is a recent piece in the New York Times by reporter Brian Stelter who decided to lose weight by 1) getting support from fellow Twitterers, and 2) by tweeting everything he eats throughout the day. An excerpt:
I knew that I could not diet alone; I needed the help of a cheering section. But rather than write a blog, keep a diary or join Weight Watchers, I decided to use Twitter. I thought it would make me more accountable, because I could record everything I ate instantly. And because Twitter posts are automatically pushed to each person who subscribes to them, an audience — of friends or strangers — can follow along.
What’s surprising is that he didn’t start using some kind of data-collecting application. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
July 11th, 2010 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
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They say transparency is king — the more you share the better you look. But I’ve got rules. Here are a few things you won’t find in my Twitter stream:
Beer. I was recently speaking at a meeting out of town and caught up with some friends at the end of the day to visit and have a beer. I was in a different time zone and noted on Twitter the specific microbrew I was enjoying. The following week in my clinic a parent commented on my social activity. While I’m no stranger to transparency, the realization of my visibility was eye-opening. It reminded me that everyone’s watching and 140 characters doesn’t offer enough space to explain the why, or the time zone, of what I’m doing. So I’ve sworn to keep activities like beer consumption out of my twitter stream.
My kids. I try to keep my children out of my social footprint as much as possible. But as most of you who follow me know, they sneak their cute little selves in on occasion. It’s unfortunate because everybody loves hearing about my kids. This is at the request of my wife who’s a booger about privacy. I do mention the occasional date night with my daughter but, by and large, you won’t hear much. Kids are great jumping-off points for personal digression, but we have to be careful about using them to our own advantage. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*