Sean Ekins; Ethan O. Perlstein

“ Some simple steps to enable the wider use of live tweeting at conferences may not be widely known to scientists.For example, conferences like “Science Online” (#scioX, in which the # is a hashtag, the keyword-tagging system of Twitter that enables retrieval of all tweets about this conference) (Box 1) are at one extreme as an “unconference” [10] , with multiple vibrant discussions happening during the sessions via Twitter. These discussions extend beyond the actual physical attendees, creating a parallel virtual meeting. ”

“ We have found from our own experiences that Twitter interactions that initially formed online during the meeting or previous meetings can have a lasting presence in real life, forging collaborations and further expanding on discussions initiated via Twitter.In light of those observations, it's worth proposing ten simple guidelines to encourage conference organizers, conference attendees, and anyone interested who uses Twitter to enhance the spread of scientific information beyond the physical walls of the auditoria in which meetings are held. ”

“ Live tweeting is therefore a powerful tool for expanding scientific discourse to those not fortunate enough to attend a conference in person. Similarly, if a meeting has parallel sessions, tweeting then enables conference attendees or virtual conference attendees to listen in on multiple talks simultaneously. ”