Yesterday some of us participated in the flagship physician Tweetchat (MDChat).  Or better, I tried to participate between finishing up some calls and choking down a bean burrito.

When the idea was initially proposed to me I committed only to supporting its initiation with the occasional role of host.  I’m simply overcommitted but wanted to support Phil Baumann and those who were willing to try to break new ground.

So I lurked, chewed, and pondered.

Doctors or not, everyone knows I’ve been a pretty lukewarm proponent of the tweetchat.  I think they’re noisy, difficult to follow, and too abbreviated for constructive dialog.  As early adopters I think we tend to put the novelty of the medium above its practicality.

With that said, chats can be fun.  It’s a situation where I feel comfortable while at once restless.  Kind of like at a medical staff meeting where the agenda doesn’t hold me quite as much as just being among my friends.

At the end of the day I might agree with Dr. Anonymous that the average physician new to social media might not find a twitter chat as the best way to spend a precious hour.  For me that hour represents the better part of a blog post which, over the course of a month, will influence hundreds of readers and live forever.

But I suspect that there will always be those among us looking for companionship over content.  And it’s hard to argue with that.