A Blog about a Blog

By: Karen Brown, Senior Director of Marketing
karenbrown@cis-partners.com

Thumbs up to the FDA for stepping into the 21st century social media realm for their efforts in launching the FDA Transparency Blog on June 2nd. (Apologies to those outside the U.S., where the thumbs up gesture is considered foul and pejorative.)

According to the new blog, the Administration is committed to eliminating barriers between the American people and their government.

The blog encourages readers to submit ideas and suggestions on how to improve transparency at the agency. In addition, you can submit electronic comments to the Federal Register, and, the public is encouraged to attend a meeting later this month with members of the Task Force.

So far, the blog has been met with some skepticism, receiving comments questioning the FDA’s visibility objectives: “Transparency to the American public is a fine goal and I applaud your efforts to do this in an online forum. However, the industries you regulate need the FDA to be transparent as well.”

I’d recommend giving this a little more time before we assume the thumbs down position. This could be the opportunity that the pharmaceutical industry needs to set up similar online discussions. Today, there are only a few large pharmaceutical manufacturers who regularly maintain a blog, though the number of companies using Twitter at a corporate level has grown to about 12.

You can check out the FDA’s blog at: http://fdatransparencyblog.fda.gov/2009/06/transparency-blog.html

Other Sources:
http://www.doseofdigital.com/healthcare-pharma-social-media-wiki/
GSK US Twitter