I thought Twitter was a superficial collection of 140 character messages, stuffed with celebrity spats and thus entirely irrelevant to real life and medicine. I was wrong. The governing bodies of medicine and nursing have taken note of their tweeting membership and their Facebook friends. The Royal College of Nursing says that you should “keep your personal and professional life separate as far as possible” and “do not discuss work related issues online.”⇑

The BMA has issued guidance saying that although “medical professionals should be free to take advantage” of social media, “it is important that they are aware of the potential risks involved.” And of course …