Twitter as biopharma radar

I initially hated Twitter when I begrudgingly signed up for an account more than three years ago. At that time, I likened it to making news reporters get paper routes to deliver their stories to readers--asking way too much of them. Obviously, I was ignorant about how this platform empowers consumers and reporters of news (now I sound like a shill for Twitter, but there are good reasons for that).   

Twitter has quickly become a go-to platform for sharing and receiving information for the life sciences group at Fierce. It plugs us into conversations with smart people in an efficient manner. Follow the right sources on Twitter, and you can not only get the latest news (@FierceBiotech, @FiercePharma and @FierceMedDev), but you can also get fresh insights and healthy skepticism about the news from our editors, including @JohnCFierce, @MaureenFierce and @RyanMFierce (me). I also recommend that you check out what other biopharma editors such as @matthewherper, @pharmalot, @adamfeuerstein, @ReutersBenHir and @ldtimmerman are saying on Twitter. And catch tweets from biotech-veteran bloggers such as @LifeSciVC and @Dereklowe (none of biotech's sacred cows are safe around these guys).  

I think you'll find that Twitter is way more than another means of circulating the news, and it's closer to placing users in a big online forum where debate, visual tools, opinions and real-time communication among reporters and readers can bring the news to life. John Carroll, the editor-in-chief of Fierce's life sciences group, recently called Twitter his radar system for what's happening in the industry. He's the biggest news hound I know in biotech, and I can't think of a better endorsement to motivate our readers to get started on Twitter if they haven't already. - Ryan McBride, executive editor, life sciences group. Sign up for Twitter | Follow @FierceBiotech