BC TWITTER
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

This year has been momentous, with a new virus, a new job writing about that virus (114 articles!) and many new sources, readers and Twitter followers. To chronicle this insane year, I'm compiling some of the stories I'm proudest of. A thread.

 Exactly a year ago, my family and I were headed back from Vietnam, with no idea how close we had been to the outbreak brewing in China. It took me a while to realize the gravity, but this first story I wrote about the virus still (mostly) holds up:
https://t.co/KQ5QMmY7MG
In March, it became increasingly obvious from research being published that the virus could spread in the absence of symptoms. Yet US officials were still mostly pooh-poohing it. In this article I talked to scientists who knew better:
https://t.co/485KxSXHeS
We know now that some of the worst effects of Covid-19 are because of the body's immune response, not just the virus itself. There were just early hints of that when I wrote this piece about cytokine storms.
https://t.co/WecEe8XkBf
In this story in May, I delved into what we knew about the relationship between the viral dose and the risk of infection -- a topic we still know woefully little about:
https://t.co/GqveDGgsul
I wasn't the first reporter to connect the dots on airborne transmission, but I'm still proud of this one for the impact it had. A few days after this article appeared, the WHO changed its position on airborne spread:
https://t.co/zGiS89Ej2E
In this story I tried to shine a light on other, older, pandemics that are being set back, in some cases by decades, because of the coronavirus. In another time, this would have been reported on the ground, but I tried to make the stories resonate anyway:
https://t.co/NG8zG5TpDq
This article is among my most controversial, and revealed a deep divide among PCR devotees on the one hand, and believers in rapid tests on the other. I also loved that a geeky story about a PCR metric (Ct value) was so widely read
https://t.co/rR4aBDK4Xl
I wrote a lot of stories about the CDC this year, and the Trump administration meddling in the agency's scientific work. But this article stands out, in part because of the importance of the document altered:
https://t.co/OlQyH5PtUY
I was in a continual state of shock while reporting this story about the White House Rose Garden event and the WH's stance that it did not need to trace any contacts because there was no evidence that anyone was infected there

https://t.co/mRdOZh8AiO
This story explored the possibility (now confirmed by many studies) that people with Covid develop autoimmunity reminiscent of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, although it's still unclear how long those autoantibodies stick around
https://t.co/BcVlR6J5XS
An absolute joy to write, I could barely wait to get the good news out: that immunity from natural infection (and, presumably vaccines) might last years and maybe even decades. Of course, that was before the new variant emerged: https://t.co/ntTmKxKjbm
I'll end with this story from a couple of weeks ago about the new variant identified in Britain and what it means for us. We know more about the variant since I wrote this, but most of it still applies:
https://t.co/zFul84KhhA
Finally, I'd like to highlight a few stories that had nothing to do with the coronavirus, beginning with this one about the London Patient, the second man ever cured of HIV, revealing his identity. It was also the last story I reported in person:
https://t.co/19rkF0uvUt
This story perhaps flew under the radar because of the pandemic. It examined disturbing allegations of harassment and bullying from a global leader in tuberculosis:
https://t.co/XTWuRRBqm9
Whew, that was a lot. Goodbye and good riddance, 2020. I was wowed by your science, appalled by the public health failures, and profoundly grateful to all of my readers and sources. And of course to the spelling bee and crosswords, which kept me sane.

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How To Twitter For SWers (thread):

Twitter can be a great place to grow your fan base, client list, following, etc. It can also be a nightmarish, drama-filled, confusing hellscape. Here are my tips to maximize your Twitter experience.

1/

First understand that Twitter and all social media is only valuable if it adds to your business, as it makes you more money. We’re not tweeting for honor, notoriety, fame. We are tweeting to increase sales. Remember this always, in everything you do, especially social media. 2/

Is Twitter even necessary? Listen, for a long time, SWers were able to make bank without the aid of social media, so the argument can definitely be made that you don’t need to be on social media at all to be successful. And if you’re doing as well as you want to be and/or you 3/

don’t enjoy social media, then you by no means have to master, or even have a Twitter presence. I personally believe in using all the free advertising I can, so while Twitter still allows SWers, I’ll be 4/

here taking advantage of the free exposure. Don’t feel the need to be a Twitter personality if you don’t like it, don’t want or need more exposure or simply don’t find that it adds to your revenue. However, if you hope to improve in these areas, Twitter can be a great way to 5/
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President Warren G. Holidays
President Warren G. Ho...
@PopeAwesomeXIII
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the tweets
Not a user was stirring, not even in fleets
The drafts were all scheduled for the a.m. with care
In hopes that virality soon would be there

The children were all nestled all snug in their snaps
Their instas, their twitches, their lit tiktok apps;
And mamma in her Pinterest, and I in my LinkedIn,
Had just settled down (the edible had kicked in)

When out on the lawn there arose such a ruckus!
I cursed the doorbell stream app I'd deleted for 'Among Us'
Plus the wi-fi was down, so I leapt from my bed
Flung open the window and lifted it over my head.

I could see nothing, I was in no mood for jokes
Snowblinded by moonlight, climate change is no hoax
When what to my furious eyes did appear?
The outline of a sleigh, and eight tiny... I wanna say, deer?

With a round little driver, he was no kind of runt
It was either St. Nick or a damn YouTube stunt.
More rapid than retweets, they came on like vandals
And he whistled and shouted and called out their handles
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Jamil Coury
Jamil Coury
@JamilCoury
In an effort to keep myself accountable and to “build in public” as many do on Twitter, I’m going to share my training and thoughts in my build up to running the 2021 Barkley Marathons.

A thread:

1/ I’m out of shape right now.

That needs to chance quickly as the race is approximately 3 months away. If you don’t know what the Barkley Marathons is, there are some great documentaries on Amazon & YouTube you can search for.

2/ Essentially it’s a 100+ mile ultra marathon held in Frozen Head State Park in TN. It is a 5 identical looped course of unmarked trails and cross country scrambles over steep terrain.

Each loop is over 25 miles in length with +14,000 feet of climb.

3/ Just 15 people have finished the full five loops in the event’s 35 year history. You have 60 hours to finish and no one has finished under 52 hours.

Most years there are no finishers.

4/ I first toed the line at the Barkley in 2014, but I first read about it in 2005 or 2006 just as I was getting into running ultras. I found the website, read this poem and immediately added the event to my bucket list:
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