facebook and beyond
DESCRIPTION
A talk, first given at The Royal College of Psychiatrists' International Congress 2013 in Edinburgh, about the use of social media in a professional capacity. It discusses benefits and pitfalls and some of the ways in which the most common sites can be used. It introduces some less well-known sites, touches on doctors' concerns about using SoMe, responsible use and finally, possible future directions of social media in psychiatry and medicine as a whole.TRANSCRIPT
Facebook and Beyond: Professional Use of Social Media
By Dr Jini Mulukutla@lwpsyjdc@jini0181
This talk will look at ...
• Some of the social media sites available– Facebook– Twitter– Pinterest and LinkedIn
• The benefits of using these in professional life• A personal experience of using social networking• Some of the practical aspects of using social
networking• Social media in the future
Why is social media important?
• Accessibility– The vast majority of patients are online
• Patients are using it, the ‘e-patient’– Word of mouth, but on a far bigger scale– Discussions about conditions, services, doctors
• Peer-to-peer communication– Sharing common interests– Geography no barrier
Why is social media important?
• Health promotion• Medical education• Up-to-the-minute information• Positive online presence
• *140 Healthcare uses for Twitter*• http://philbaumann.com/140-health-care-use
s-for-twitter/
• Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg • Probably most well known• Most commonly used by doctors• Tends to be used as a way to interact with a
known social circle• People make ‘friends’ and ‘like’ comments, links
or pages• Can form groups and create pages to promote
topics/causes/services
• Described a ‘microblogging’ site• Interface is much simpler than Facebook• Posts are less than 140 characters = short snippets of
information, little and often• Topics are introduced by ‘#’ e.g. #socialmedia #RCPsychIC13 • People ‘follow’ each other• Much easier to interact with people you don’t know in real life• Very accessible- easy to find and follow people with similar
interests• Way to interact with big organisations and promote activities
• A newer site- used to be invitation only, but now open access
• Like a virtual pinboard• Allows users to post information such as interesting sites,
pictures & video• Allows users to collect and store information of interest to
them• Follow people with similar interests• Information can be grouped into categories called ‘boards’• Easy to link with Facebook or Twitter account
Storify
• Curates and collates social media snippets into stories and timelines
• Allows users to search others’ stories on relevant topics
• Links in with the most popular social media sites so information can be collected and shared easily
• Share your professional profile • Easy way of putting your CV out and making
sure relevant people see it• Has been used in corporate world for many
years• Relatively new to doctors
A few others• Tumblr- just bought by Yahoo
– Simple blogging interface– Easy to share and follow posts
• FourSquare– Location-based site designed for smartphones– Users ‘check-in’ to interact with environment
• Instagram- now owned by Facebook– Photo taking, customising and sharing
• YouTube– Very well known video sharing site owned by Google
• Google Plus– Brings users together with Google services such as Gmail and YouTube– Share information, photos, videos, ideas with ‘Circles’ of contacts and with
communities
Pitfalls
• Time commitment– You get out what you put in
• Keeping on top of things• Privacy- keeping up with changing privacy
settings and ToS• Interacting with people who don’t share your
POV• Can make it harder to separate professional and
personal lives
Doctors’ concerns about social media
• Patient dignity and privacy• Doctors’ privacy• Professional oaths to do no harm• Litigation worries
Responsible social media use
• Address social media requests/invitations from patients promptly and in person
• Familiarise yourself with the site’s Terms of Service and privacy settings (and use them)
• Think before you post: Who can see your content? What image do you wish to portray?
• Check before you accept: If you’re not sure who’s sent that follow/friend request, don’t accept until you know
The future of social media?
• Increased use of mobile devices and applications e.g. Prescription apps
• Use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube for seminars and discussions – to educate and bring together patients– Fora for professional discussions– E.g. Twitter Journal Clubs, #medartschat
• Development of online medical communities
The future of social media?
• More medical students using social media in their burgeoning professional lives
• Branch– New site where users start a topic of conversation
and others join. No character restriction. Interacts with twitter. Very simple interface
Summary
• This presentation has covered:– Reasons to use social media in professional life– Some of the most common sites out there– Demonstrated ways in which these sites can be
used– Gone over some pitfalls of social media use– Discussed responsible use of social media– Looked into the future of social media for doctors
Thank you!
Social Media Explained ... Using donuts