The Final Update

After a long run, I’ve decided to archive the Hospital Social Network List. The final update will be published at the end of August.

Additions and corrections must be received by Friday, August 17, 2012. The list will remain available as an archive, but no changes will be made after this final update.

Thank you for participating – it’s been fun. I’ll answer any questions in the comments.

UPDATE – July 23, 2012
I’ve had several questions via Twitter, email and the comments below, so I’ll answer the main one here:

Why are you shutting down the list?
This wasn’t an easy decision, but there were several factors leading me to this choice:

Time – Maintaining the list was a manual process, and took more time as it grew. I wanted to automate the process, but never found a programming partner.

Passion – The last update was in October, 2011, almost ten months ago. I used to do updates every month, but over the years maintenance became a chore and updates lagged.

But the most important reason is:
My goals have been achieved. The purpose of the list was simple – make hospital leadership pay attention to Social Media and take it seriously. When I started the list in 2009 Social Media was a sideshow, something to fear not embrace. The list was a tool for hospital Web, Marketing and Communications staff who wanted to change that perception.

Things are different now, and I believe the list had a part in that transformation.