Encouraging Young Life Science Professionals to Tweet

Some time ago Luke Timmerman wrote a great piece in Xconomy about the utilization of Twitter amongst members of the life science community.  I found it somewhat interesting that many of the Twitter users Luke mentioned in his article like Michael Gilman (Twitter: @Michael_Gilman), the CEO of Stromedix, are significantly older than myself.  Given the fact that Twitter is typically associated with the youth culture, it is the younger members of the life science community – my generation – that are remarkably absent from this conversation platform.   

Having seasoned entrepreneurs like Michael tweet provides other members of the life science community access to unparalleled mentoring and advice from the comfort of their own couches.  While I am thankful that so many amazing senior members of the community tweet, it does strike me as rather odd that the lion’s share of life science Twitter users are 20+ years older than me. 

I am still very much a newbie at Twitter, having only been an active member (@martinlehr) for the past few months.  In the beginning, I assumed that my interactions on the commentary platform would be in the form of casual banter amongst my contemporaries.  What I have learned is that Twitter is something far more powerful as members of the life science community use it to build brand value (either their company’s, their own, or both) and stimulate conversations to improve patient health.  

If we want to have a vibrant life science community in the US, all parties – young and old – need to participate in order to share knowledge and best practices.  I am not advocating that everyone my age should Tweet, but I do wish we had a more visible presence in the community. 

So why don’t more of my peers Tweet?

1)   Life Science Folks are not First Adopters: Until fairly recently I was incredibly naïve when it came to tech culture and the various gadgets, platforms, and apps at my disposal.  I think a lot of my trepidation associated with using Twitter, location-based apps, etc. had to do with my transition from working in an academic lab to being a venture capitalist.  In academic research, vendors come to you and push their latest wares, creating a passive adoption culture.  Techies actually do the reverse, constantly perusing TechCrunch and Engadget to find the latest tech toys to test.  This creates a dynamic where life science folks are rarely first adopters of technology, and therefore the excitement surrounding being a first adopter passes them by.  Many younger people do not tweet for the simple reason that they think it was a fad that has already passed them by.

2)   Do Not Understand the Power of Twitter: I think a lot of people wrongly associate Twitter with Charlie Sheen rants and celebrity gossip.  While there is certainly a lot of junk on Twitter, it is rather easy to parse through the chatter and find relevant tweets by searching through hashtags (these are keywords much like Google search).  Also, it is easy to build smaller Twitter groups either for generating conversation around a specific topic or for passive tracking.

3)   Twitter Considered Lowbrow Networking:  I have found Twitter to be a fantastic tool for networking, more so than even dedicated networking sites like LinkedIn.  The reason for this is that Twitter provides a forum for me to flex my intellectual muscles and let my peers gain insight into how I think and work.  Many of my Twitter contacts I have yet to meet in person, but when I do meet them in person that interaction is far richer as we already have established a comfort level with each other through tweeting.      

4)   My Comments Aren’t Clever Enough: Academia is too hierarchical and does do enough to train young scientists to network and learn how to express their views in public forums.  As a career building tool, Twitter requires a certain amount of confidence to open oneself up to criticism and the academe does not do enough to build the confidence of young researchers.  Until the hierarchical nature of academe is flattened, young researchers will continue to think that their comments on Twitter are not clever enough to warrant writing.

5)   Too Busy: While some people probably are too busy too tweet, the rest of the population (the other 99%) has sufficient time to do so.  When I think about how much money has been spent on my education, allocating 15 minutes a day to build out my network on Twitter (which is free) seems like a no-brainer.   

Tweeting Matters

I use Twitter because I believe it accelerates my venture capital apprenticeship.  Becoming a good venture capitalist, or any profession for that matter, requires a lot of hard work and excellent mentorship.  Twitter provides me with regular informal access to a vast network of mentors than I would not have otherwise.  I can then leverage my Twitter community to offer support and advice on investment opportunities and career planning.