On Tuesday, Clinicient, an EMR and billing software company, released what they deemed as their list of 100 Most Influential People in Physical Therapy using the Little Bird search engine. But here is the kicker...you had to have a a Twitter account to be considered for the honor. Here is a great article on how Little Bird works, including pros and cons to the use of the system. (I strongly recommend scrolling down to the "Tips on Using Little Bird" section.) Hint: it all has to do with visibility on social media. Yes folks, this system does not take into account how many articles you have published, how many committees you've chaired, or the number of terms you have served as APTA president unless you are fervently tweeting/posting about these things.
I will just add the disclaimer that I really don't object with the content of list which was compiled. Many of the names I did recognize and the accomplishments of these fine professionals are absolutely stunning. Everyone of those people on that list deserved to be there; there is no doubt about that. However, I couldn't help but notice that there were several names I would have liked to see on that list that were not present.
Now...let us dissent.
Our digital age has finally come to a point where until you submit your thoughts, accomplishments, and ideas via a service limiting your creativity to 140 characters, you cannot be considered to be influential in our great field. I can easily correct this debacle by changing the title of the article. Had it been printed as "100 Most Influential People in Physical Therapy on Twitter" I could have easily brushed this off as another millennial thing. But because of the way the title is presented, it forms a lattice that is not only deceiving in nature, but extremely misleading to members of the PT community, and those external to it as well. It also pains me that this article was written not by somebody who is a member of the PT community, but by an outsider source who used a single method to determine the importance and value of members within our field. I can see how this might eliminate bias, but the strength of accomplishments isn't usually an objective one to compile. Heck, even as a member of the APTA, and someone who is moderately involved, I feel like I am still trying to navigate the connections between everyone here. So how can an outsider successfully do it with a single subject design?
When I investigated the matter further, I realized that many of the people who I consider to be giants in the field don't actually have social media (mainly Twitter) accounts. Yes, that's right folks. It is possible to be successful in this world without using social media to brag about all your adroitness in real-time. People like Tim Kauffman, who has been calling for renewed focus on Geriatrics years before the latest Mary McMillan lecture; Marilyn Moffat, who has a laundry list of accomplishments such to satisfy any young professional's wet-dream; Joshua Cleland, whose name has been on nearly all the most pertinent literature in orthopedics for the last 15 years; and Shirley Sahrmann, whose entire life has been dedicated to the advancement of physical therapy. Also, where are our original giants in the field? What about Mary McMillan? Catherine Worthingham? We have awards named after them...so why do they appear so obsolete? As this list is mis-titled, I feel that it serves as a giant slap in the face to the professional behemoths who quietly work and continue to impact the field of PT in ways whose significance cannot be contained in a single tweet.
While I believe many of the people on this list deserve to be on it, I must relegate this list to have the strength and relevance of no more than a single subject design/case study. Without more factors, how can you determine a person's worth in such a complex and effervescent field? I have no doubt that with the addition of other factors (research, service, academia positions) many of these individuals would stay on the list...if not rise up in rank!
Nevertheless, I implore you to explore the list, make new connections, and continue to fight for our field. Use this as a tool to assist in guaranteeing the success of the future of physical therapy.
Was there anyone who you thought should have been on the list and wasn't? Leave a comment below and explain why!
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