Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The APHA Get Ready campaign is all a’Twitter!

Can’t get enough info on emerging infectious diseases such as XDR-TB or bird flu?

APHA’s Get Ready campaign now has an online news page with links to the latest information and resources on emerging infectious diseases. Updated regularly, the Get Ready Twitter is a one-stop page where visitors can find quick, easy information on topics such as animal-borne diseases, avian flu, XDR-TB, SARS and other infectious diseases from a variety of different sources.

The news Twitter is the latest addition to the Get Ready campaign, which includes a Web site, blog, podcasts and other free resources. Created in 2006, the APHA Get Ready campaign is helping Americans prepare themselves, their families and their communities for pandemic influenza and other emerging infectious diseases. APHA's affiliated state and regional public health associations are working to bring the campaign and its message to the public.

Twitter, launched online in 2006, is a new type of online tool that is similar to a blog. But unlike blogs, which have lengthy, detailed postings and photos, Twitter only allows users to creating postings of 140 words or less. The tool is attractive to those who want to post short, quick entries throughout the day or stay up to date on what others are doing.

Earlier this year, Portland, Ore., resident Scott Hanselman successfully used his Twitter, Twittering my Diabetes, to document his daily experiences with diabetes and raise money for the American Diabetes Association.

The APHA Get Ready Twitter has an RSS feed, which means that Web users can stay up date on new posts as they are made. To subscribe to the feed, add http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/6751882.rss to your RSS reader or add the feed URL to your MyYahoo! or Google news page.

Web users can also visit the APHA Get Ready Twitter directly at www.twitter.com/getready.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it is cool that APHA has a Twitter. (I was really surprised, actually.) When I think of associations, the word "cool" doesn't usually come to mind. People my age (I am a PH student) are used to these sort of technologies, so I am glad APHA is keeping up with the times. Kudos on making it easy to find info.

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed: this is a good mix of fun facts, quizzes, news and research findings all in one place, updated constantly.

I just got the RSS feed!