Watching someone with whom you disagree quit Twitter entirely, rather than staying and being convinced of your position, should be seen as a failure, not as a reason to gloat. Even persistent, respectful disagreement is more of a success than driving the other person away.

@DrEricStrong sadly social media just amplifies toxic tribalism. no room for differences of opinion and moderates get silenced by vocal minority on both ends. I find reddit a little better in allowing for some diversity of opinions as there is less incentive to signal and collect followers

@grepmeded Prospectively, I would not have guessed that an anonymous social media platform would be less toxic than Twitter, but that's been my observation as well. It's a sad testament to the downsides of how social media interacts with our psychology (e.g. need for public validation).

@DrEricStrong Depends on if the platform is “chocolate ice cream is better than vanilla” or “I’m using my credentials & clout to promote dangerous anti-vax rhetoric that endangers public health bc the public sees me as credible”

@PianoGrump Generally agree, but the line between "dangerous anti-vax rhetoric" and points of reasonable discussion between well-informed medical professionals is often more fuzzy than medtwitter prefers to pretend.

@itsmercadante @VPrasadMDMPH Huge difference between blocking people to avoid exposure to different or competing ideas vs. blocking people to avoid harassment and toxicity. Unfortunately, many people who have been blocked by someone on here because of the latter mistakenly assume it's because of the former.

@jajamjamejames @PianoGrump The difference between true misinformation & "misinformation" (i.e. disagreement) is often only discernible by experts in the relevant field. The real problem is when those experts start to conflate the two, leaving everyone else distrustful of everything they subsequently hear.

@DrEricStrong I don't want my neurosurgery at UCSF because I have developed really negative feelings about that place. Physicians on social media should just stay away from the culture wars entirely if you ask me, but I realize it's not a simple issue.

@DrEricStrong Every time I come back on Twitter, I’m reminded I dislike it so much. Much better to spend my time / energy off of it

@DrEricStrong @VPrasadMDMPH You don't win hearts and minds if you berate and ridicule.

@kateheydonorg @SueAllison809 @DrEricStrong Bullies often feel driven to gain power and control for the sake of it. They often hate more talented ppl as they like to feel they themselves are superior/perfect thus hate it if their inferiority is shown up. They blame others for problems but never themselves.

@kateheydonorg @DrEricStrong @SueAllison809 This is so true in the NHS and Ambulance Service, people are suffering from bullying victimisation, racial and sexual harassment we are pushing for a Public enquiry its a scandal!Lots of MPs know lots of Journalist know, When is someone going to listen join !