On a recent Stanford MedX Google Hangout I was asked how Twitter had changed since I began using it in 2008.

Initially it was relatively private and consisted of a patchwork of organic microconversations for those who chose to sign on.  It seemed to be more conversation than curation and sharing.  It felt edgy and raw in terms of subject matter.  The only people watching were the few who were participating.

Personally, I had few inhibitions with regard to what I shared.  I had never experienced public dialog in a near-synchronous way and the whole thing was fascinating.  It seems that I had to get my hands around it before I could understand what could be done with it.

At the time I had little understanding of social platforms as public arenas.  In fact, I had never considered the implications of participation.  I didn’t know there were any.  In fact, I didn’t think I was participating in anything.  Professionalism, permanence and the potential scale of off-colored remarks had never been raised as concerns since public dialog was something few physicians did.

Somewhere before 2010 everybody started looking and Twitter became public.   Then we started looking and acting like we were in public.  For me that’s when Twitter moved from a small, contained group of physician and patient friends to a publication tool.  We all diverged and began to use it in different and unique ways.

My personal evolution with Twitter has been just like my evolution with every other tool of public communication over the past eight years.  I start using it one way, then end up using it another way.

If you’ve been at it a little while, how have you seen Twitter change?

Image via the Moma agency.